non cognitivism: emotivism

Question 1

emotivism- anti realist + non-cognitivist

Answer 1

influenced by logical positivism- anything that is true must be verifiable or falsifiable but as good can’t be then proved true or false its subjective
-moral viterances are relative to out emotions or preferences

Question 2

AJ Ayer (1910-1989)

Answer 2

‘language, truth and logic’
-all moral talk is an expression of the speakers feelings
-statments aimed to provoke emotional response+instructions

Question 3

Hume (1711-1776)-influenced it

Answer 3

-against naturalists
-is/ought fallacy: Hume claims you cannot deductively infer a value from a fact – you can’t get an ought from an is.
-statements are either analytic or synthetic

Question 4

Bentham-hume contrast

Answer 4

fact- ‘is’ statement
value- ‘ought; statement
hedonic utilitarisim- naturalist

Question 5

Barnes- ‘boo/hurray’ theory

Answer 5

-boo=disagree with statement
-hurray=agree with statement
=expression of emotion
-ethical statements only subjective to the person

Question 6

logical positivism

Answer 6

-developed by members of Vienna circle
-ethical statements not genuine truth claims bc can’t be tested by sense experience
-applying science to the question of meaning – the view that the only valid meaningful language is that which is scientific – empirically verifiable.

Question 7

verification principle

Answer 7

-a statement is only meaningful if there’s a conclusive procedure determining wether its true or false

-ethical statements=not verifiable analytically or synthetically=meaningless

-‘god exists’ + emotion is a meaningless statement

Question 8

Vienna circle 1920s

Answer 8

-came up w logical positivism+verification principle
-interested in science + ethical language
-influenced emotivism

Question 9

wittgenstein

Answer 9

language games
-language used within its right context is meaningful n useful

Question 10

” exhortation to moral virtue are not propisitions at all…..

Answer 10

but ejaculations or commands”- aj ayer

Question 11

strengths-
emotive language is effective in….

Answer 11

changing attitudes of others

Question 12

strengths

Answer 12

-people make decisions based on emotions anyways, describes working of world accurately
-just bc they’re not verifiable they still have worth
-values existence of moral diversity
-moral opinions formed on basis of gaining others approval (childhood)

Question 13

limitations

Answer 13

-undermines theories that say right/wrong is derived from reason/logic
-morality is meaningless eg 9/11
-+if all morality is meaningless- whose emotions should we follow?
-without right n wrong people will do what they want (CP: doesn’t make it a wrong theory)
-contingent on emotions, change as emotions change so not universal claims
-emotions can unite but also isolate people
-

Question 14

support: cl stevens

Answer 14

–not only making emotional response to situation but trying to persuade others to do same
-2 language principles:
-descriptive: states a fact
-dynamic: take statement + use it to persuade others to feel a certain way

Question 15

limitations: ethical language can’t reduce to emotions

Answer 15

-ethical language involves disagreement BUT emotions can’t disagree. so can’t be reduced to emotion

Question 16

what’s Ayers responde of ‘no such thing as a moral disagreement’

Answer 16

-theres only factual disagreement which we have emotional associations with, making it seem a moral disagreement but its actually just a factual disagreement + emotional conflict

Question 17

AGAINSRt: James Rachel

Answer 17

wrong of ayer to make connection between minor emotional responses n major ones
eg stubing toe n seeing murder on tv

Question 18

AGAINST: Peter Vardy

Answer 18

its a moral ‘non theory’ because its not an ethical theory in the classical sense