O bom, o mau e o neutro

Abstract

The present article presents and discusses the foundations of the New Moral Realism proposed by Markus Gabriel in Ethics for Dark Times (2020), a work that extends his New Realism project into the field of ethics. Starting from a metaethical defense of moral realism, Gabriel argues that there are objective moral facts, independent of individual or cultural opinions, yet accessible to human reason and recognizable across all societies. The article examines the three central theses of his system — Realism, Humanism, and Universalism — and his opposition to relativism, pluralism, and nihilism. Gabriel’s critique of “postmodern cynicism” and the contemporary crisis of truth is analyzed in contrast with authors such as Bruno Latour and Friedrich Nietzsche. It is argued that overcoming relativism and nihilism is a necessary condition for global moral progress, which must be understood as a collective endeavor of humanity. Through the recognition of universal moral facts — such as the condemnation of evidently evil practices, like torture for amusement — Gabriel proposes a New Enlightenment that unites reason and morality in response to the ethical challenges of the 21st century, such as nationalism, ecological collapse, and global inequalities. The article concludes that New Moral Realism offers a robust alternative to moral pessimism and cultural fragmentation, affirming the objectivity of ethics without appealing to theological foundations.