  Given the neutrality of Mackie’s way of life-account relative to the existence of moral facts, the supposition that it offers a superior explanation of the variation does not imply (i). However, it does imply the weaker claim (ii), which is what Mackie notes by contrasting the way of life-account with “the hypothesis that [our moral convictions] express perceptions, most of them seriously inadequate and badly distorted, of objective values”. Can (ii) be used in a compelling objection to moral realism? One option is to try for an indirect one which targets the grounds for being a realist, rather than realism itself. (ii) does not entail that the variation is a direct reason to reject realism, but it does indicate that realism fails to obtain support from it. That is obviously an unsurprising result, but if the way-of-life hypothesis is incorporated in a broader theory, which provides the best explanation also of other aspects of moral discourse, then it may deprive realists of more important sources of support. For example, some moral realists (e.g., Sturgeon 1988, 229, Smith 1994, 188, and Huemer 2016) stress that although there is plenty of moral disagreement, there is also some amount of convergence. Issues that previously were intensely debated are currently less controversial (Smith mentions slavery, for example). The inspiration of these realists may be the arguments for scientific realism which invoke the (arguably more impressive) convergence that occurs there (see Devitt 1984 for a discussion). However, if a theory which incorporates the way-of-life hypothesis and at the same time remains non-committal about moral facts were to provide a better explanation not only of the divergence but also of the convergence among moral judgments, then arguments for moral realism of that kind would fail. If the broader theory were in addition to explain why we form moral convictions in the first place, then it would provide significant support for the core claim of Gilbert Harman’s much discussed argument against moral realism, according to which we should not posit moral facts, as they are not needed in the best explanation of anything observable. (See Harman 1977 and Sturgeon 1988 for a realist response.)