1F: Emotivism

Question 1

Background to emotivism:

Answer 1

• main phislipher behind the theory is A.J Ayer in his 1936 book ‘Language, Truth and Logic’
• perhaps ironic that Ayer’s theory is meta-ethical as he set out to illustrate that existing meta-ethical theories were meaningless.

Question 2

Why is intuitionism meaningless?

Answer 2

• Ayer rejects Moore’s and Prichard’s assertion that there is a universal innate intuition. Ayer claimed this was wrong as moral agents have different intuitive ideas from the same ethical situation.
• he argues this isn’t surprising due to the nature of intuitionism, i.e. it isn’t based in any empirical evidence or rational thought.

Question 3

Why is naturalism meaningless?

Answer 3

• related to bus belief in the theory of ‘logical positivism’. This was devised by a group 9f philosophers that met in Vienna (Vienna circle). They devised ‘the verification principle’ as part of the theory to conclude whether language was meaningful or not.
• only two types of statements are meaningful - analytic and synthetic
• analytic statements: a proposition that is true ‘in itself’ or by definition. E.g. all bachelors are men
• synthetic statements: a proposition that is not true ‘in itself’ but can be verified with empirical evidence.
• overall, all naturalism is rendered meaningless and it is not analytical or synthetic (due to Hume’s is-ought argument)

Question 4

Why is meta-ethics meaningless?

Answer 4

• Ayer starts his theory by suggesting that all existing meta-ethical theories are meaningless or as Ayer puts it ‘pseudo-concepts’
• at best ethical language is neutral.

Question 5

Explanation of emotivism:

Answer 5

• ethical language is no more than expressions of our own personal emotions. His theory is sometimes called the ‘Hurrah-Boo theory’ as when making moral judgements it is the same as saying ‘hurrah’ or ‘boo’ to s9emthing.
• hurrah, e.g. giving to charity and boo, e.g. stealing
• the terms ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are no more than expressions of our own individual emotions of approval and disapproval for a certain moral action.

Question 6

Objective, universal and cognitive:

Answer 6

• subjective as it is based on own personal emotions and influenced by upbringing, preference etc
• therefore isn’t universal. Every moral agent will have their own unique emotions about different ethical propositions.
• non-cognitive as it believes ethical propositions anew not meaningful as they are not objective.

Question 7

Psychology and sociology

Answer 7

• Ayer believes it’s better left to psychology as it could study why an individual felt a particular way about a certain ethical action.

Question 8

Who was C.L. Stevenson?

Answer 8

• developed theory of emotivism in 1937 article ‘The Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms’. Stevenson coined the phrase ‘Emotivism’
• Stevenson rejected the ‘hurrah-boo’ theory because he accepted the ethical language went beyond just individual emotional response to moral situations. He also believed there was a persuasion element to it too.

Question 9

What were Stevenson’s two additional important elements to emotivism?

Answer 9

• religious language can be dynamic
• ethical debate

Question 10

Stevenson - religious language can be dynamic:

Answer 10

• Stevenson believed ethical language was also dynamic. Ethical language has the power to: command, persuade and express approval and disapproval. (Referred to as casual property)
• therefore he believed there was more to ethical language terms than just expressions of emotions - to ignore the dynamic element would be ignoring the true meaning.

Question 11

Stevenson - ethical debate:

Answer 11

• propositions about belief: to do with facts, e.g. voluntary euthanasia in the UK is illegal.
• propositions about ‘attitude’: subjective use of religious language. E.g. euthanasia is wrong
• Stevenson argued that ethical debate could still be considered meaningful as people’s subjective emotive use of religious language are often based on objective facts.
• Stevenson believes ethical debate does have some substance as it is based on factual beliefs and not solely on attitudes.

Question 12

What are the challenges to emotivism?

Answer 12

• no basic ethical principles can be established
• ethical debate becomes a pointless activity
• there can be no universal agreement that some actions are wrong

Question 13

Challenge - no basic ethical principles can be established:

Answer 13

• emotivism is dismissing philosophical normative ethics (e.g. NL, Utilitarianism etc) as meaningless as they clearly use religious language
• this could potentially leave moral agents guideless and becoming a moral resulting in society descending into anarchy.

Question 14

Challenge - ethical debate becomes a pointless activity:

Answer 14

• emotivism does not allow for ethical debate. This is because there’s no grounds to ethical debate as it is reduced to nothing more than two people expressing their emotions with no meaningful substance
• however history shows that ethical debate has led to clear decisions being made, e.g. abolition of slavery, women receiving the vote or the legalising of homosexual relationships.

Question 15

Challenge - there can be no universal agreement that some actions are wrong:

Answer 15

• emotivism does not allow for any absolutes, e.g. murder/rape is always wrong
• this is because absolutism works on the principle that there is a universal ethical belief about certain ethical actions
• however emotivism is subjective and therefore ethical rules cannot be applied universally