Ethical Non-Cognitivism
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LOGICAL POSITIVISM
A group of Philosophers that met regularly in Vienna and became known as the Vienna Circle gave birth to the theory of Logical Positivism which devised its own criteria of meaning for all forms of language – the Verification Principle. According to the Verification Principle, meaningful assertions fall into three categories; analytic statements, mathematical statements and synthetic statements. Under this supposition Ethical language is rendered meaningless since it is non-propositional and cannot be verified or falsified using empirical experience. A.J. Ayer was a key proponent.
EMOTIVISM
Emotivism is A.J. Ayer’s approach to meta-ethics. Ayer argued that moral language is not the object of cognition and is not factual. Thus when we make an ethical statement we are merely expressing our emotions or preferences – hence it has been described as the Boo-Hurrah theory. Ayer concluded that ethical discourse is not possible since it cannot progress in a worthwhile manner.
The problem with this approach is that it lacks substance. According to the theory of Emotivism, a statement such as ‘murder is wrong’ is no more important than children telling each other what colour sweets they prefer.
C.L. STEVENSON
Stevenson took the basis of Emotivism and developed it further. He argued that meaningful ethical discourse could take place since people’s subjective opinions are often based on objective facts. For Stevenson, ethical statements are based upon firm, justifiable beliefs about the world and the way in which it should work, and therefore are meaningful.
We disapprove of the Holocaust murders not just because they are not to our taste but because we have firm, justifiable beliefs about human dignity and worth.
C.L. Stevenson bridged the gap between Emotivism and Prescriptivism
PRESCRIPTIVISM
The theory of Prescriptivism was developed by R.M. Hare who agreed with Ayer that ethical statements are entirely subjective, but went further to say that they are not merely expressions of one’s opinions or preferences, but attempts to encourage others to share our attitude – when we make an ethical statement we are prescribing our opinions. Instead of being propositional, ethical statements give imperatives.
When a headteacher tells the schoolchildren bullying is wrong, this is meant to guide them not merely to make them aware of the headteacher’s personal preferences.
If you prescribe something you need to be consistent. When people say ‘Murder is wrong’ they mean ‘You ought not murder, and neither will I.’
However, it could be argued that because Prescriptivism denies any objective truth (as is the nature of ethical non-cognitivist theories), it does not help people to decide to follow one person’s prescriptions rather than another’s.
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