Using moral realism as its reference point, David Brink's book provides a sophisticated metaethical defense of ethical cognitivism. The principal elements of Brink's position include: moral realism, an externalist moral psychology, a coherentist moral epistemology, a nonreductive form of ethical naturalism, and an objective conception of utilitarianism. Moral realism is defined as "the view that there are moral facts and true moral claims whose existence and nature are independent of our beliefs about what is right or wrong". Since moral inquiry (...) generally seeks to establish moral facts independently of moral beliefs, Brink contends there is a presumption in favor of moral realism. (shrink)