by Robert » December 2nd, 2007, 2:28 pm
As far as I can tell, after looking through some of my books and the ever helpful "Wikipedia", ethical realism is actually termed "moral realism." Moral realsim then is the theory that all ethical propositions are invested on "objective" really existing 'good' and 'evils.' In view of this, the opponents of moral realism argue that those existing outside of the moral parameters as set forth by a community of people or are less educated concerning the concrete prohibitions of the community may transgress these laws because of ignorance and not because of their moral agency of choosing the right or wrong thing to do.
This would suggest that an intrinsic moral community, a term I had no luck in finding its meaning, would be that community where moral precepts are accepted or rejected based on their knowledge of an act in relation to its interaction with the objective good or evil consequence. But this is only my conclusion and not necessarily what your professor 'means' by an intrinsic moral community.
If I am right as to the defintions I have discovered and deduced, the correct size and membership of the intrinsic moral community would be all of those who can understand what is right and wrong, as Sethyoufree has mentioned in his sentient beings and moral agents. Consequently a moral agent is a sentient being, but moral responsibility would fall on the shoulders of those who can 'understand' the parameters set forth by the community of knowers that rightly identify what is right and wrong as based on objective analysis (not of the physical sciences but of the branch of philosophy called 'ethics').
So...
Premise one possibility: Ethical (moral) Realism is that ethical theory (perspective) which defines right and wrong in an objective, non-subjective setting.
Premise 2 possibility: What is viewed as right and wrong actions are those which are understood by the perpetrator as being derived from a seeking the 'good' or 'evil' ends associated with his or her desire.
Premise 3 possibility: The size of this intrinsic moral community is comprised of those sentient beings whose knowledge of what is right or wrong, though in no way reciprocal with how they should be treated, also includes those who are moral agents; even though they can not understand the full spectrum of moral rights and wrongs (children, the mentally challenged, etc.)
[I am] Freudian Viennese by night, by day [I am] Marxian Muscovite
--Robert Frost--