Coming to terms with metaethics, I am beginning to think, is all about
distinguishing between levels. I first learned to do this
rigorously back when I was getting to grips with mathematical logic, and discovering that you could
prove complete absurdities, if you lost track even once of the distinction between "believe particular PA proofs", "believe PA is sound", and "believe you yourself are sound". If you believe any particular PA proof, that might sound pretty much the same as believing PA is sound in general; and if you use PA and only PA, then trusting PA (that is, being moved by arguments that follow it) sounds pretty much the same as believing that you yourself are sound. But after a bit of practice with the actual math - I did have to practice the actual math, not just read about it - my mind formed permanent distinct buckets and built walls around them to prevent the contents from slopping over.
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