RE: The Struggle to do Good
June 7, 2020 at 8:07 am
(This post was last modified: June 7, 2020 at 8:09 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Maybe this will help - these are the ascending claims to morality and the terms we use to describe each position.
Cognitivism/Non Cognitivism.
This is a disagreement over whether moral statements purport to report facts. Whether they say something that can be true or false. Cognitivists assert that they do. Non-cognitivists assert that they do not, that they are more like "yuck!" and "yum!".
Emotivism is a form of non non-cognitivism. Objectivity subjectivity and error theory are all forms of cognitivism.
Objectivism/Subjectivism.
This is a disagreement over whether moral statements report facts of a matter x, or facts of a subject x. When we say that y is bad, is this a statement that refers to us as the subject x - our attitudes and opinions and nature, or is it a statement that refers to some object x, independent of our attitudes, opinions, and nature.
Error Theory.
This is the notion that there either are no moral facts...or.. if there are, human beings are not in possession of them. That we purport to report facts, and that those purported facts are facts of a matter x and not a subject x, but we do not get those facts right.
Which of these broad positions best describes your own position on human morality, and which of them presents the most significant challenge to moral realism, in your estimation?
Cognitivism/Non Cognitivism.
This is a disagreement over whether moral statements purport to report facts. Whether they say something that can be true or false. Cognitivists assert that they do. Non-cognitivists assert that they do not, that they are more like "yuck!" and "yum!".
Emotivism is a form of non non-cognitivism. Objectivity subjectivity and error theory are all forms of cognitivism.
Objectivism/Subjectivism.
This is a disagreement over whether moral statements report facts of a matter x, or facts of a subject x. When we say that y is bad, is this a statement that refers to us as the subject x - our attitudes and opinions and nature, or is it a statement that refers to some object x, independent of our attitudes, opinions, and nature.
Error Theory.
This is the notion that there either are no moral facts...or.. if there are, human beings are not in possession of them. That we purport to report facts, and that those purported facts are facts of a matter x and not a subject x, but we do not get those facts right.
Which of these broad positions best describes your own position on human morality, and which of them presents the most significant challenge to moral realism, in your estimation?
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