Download - Emotivism
Rachel PetrikRachel Petrik
Based on writing by A.J. AyerBased on writing by A.J. Ayer
20th century English philosopher
Wrote Language, Truth, and Logic in 1936
Established himself as leading English rep of Logical Positivism
A.J. Ayer
Also called logical empiricism Empiricism= concepts originate in
experience and propositions are justifiable only through experience
View that scientific knowledge is the only kind of factual knowledge
Metaphysical statements are not factual
Logical Positivism
Teaches that moral statements:
Are meaningless Only express the speaker’s feelings about
the issue
Later emotivists added the idea that moral statements are used to influence another person’s thoughts and conduct by informing them of the speaker’s feelings
Emotivism
Does not literally spell out the speaker’s
feelings Expresses feelings, approval, or disapproval
with emotive force Similar to connotation The overtones of feeling that a word arouses Separate from its literal meaning Is the difference between conveying
information and appealing to feelings
Moral Statements
All meaningful statements are analytic (true
by definition) or synthetic (deriving meaning from being empirically verifiable) Called the Verification Principle
Ethical terms cannot be translated into statements of empirical fact
The inability to translate into empirical fact makes them unverifiable
Ethical statements are synthetic, not analytic
Therefore, moral facts do not exist
Ayer’s Ideas and Principles
Cannot adopt a subjectivist or utilitarian analysis of ethical terms Utilitarian: rightness and goodness in terms of
pleasure or happiness that result Subjectivist: approval of the action from a
certain person or group Belongs to psychology or sociology, not
philosophy These two views cannot be absolute To accept absolute view, recognize ethical
concepts are irreducible to empirical concepts Therefore ethics do not derive from
observation Instead from intellectual intuition No criterion to decide between conflicting
intuitions
Ethical concepts are pseudo-concepts Ethical or moral statement does
not add factual content to a proposition
Simply evincing moral approval or disapproval
A proposition only containing ethical symbols has no factual meaning
The verification principle appears to be
synthetic, but not empirically verifiable There are moral disagreements
Yet if there is no reason or fact behind moral statements, why do we argue?
Seems possible to judge something to be morally wrong without having any emotional reaction to it
Evaluating Emotivism
Emotivism is not a widely accepted theory today
Most philosophers think moral statements are more than just expressions of feeling
Summary