9. Meta Ethics: Emotivism: A.J. Ayer
- Created by: Alasdair
- Created on: 25-06-17 22:26
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- 9. Emotivism: A.J. Ayer
- Outline
- 'Good, bad, right, wrong'
- Expressing approval/disapproval
- Ethical statements express an emotion
- Not factual meanings
- Not verified
- Not factual meanings
- Logical positivism
- Argues that ethical statements cannot be tested using sense experience
- Not genuine truths but feelings
- Argues that ethical statements cannot be tested using sense experience
- Morality falls outside the legitimate area
- "Stealing is wrong" has no factual meaning
- Boo Hurrah Theory
- Moral statements express an emotion
- "Ethical terms do not serve only to express feelings. They are calculated also to arouse feelings and so to stimulation action" - A. J. Ayer.
- 'Good, bad, right, wrong'
- Strengths
- Ayer's work on ethical statements has strong pedigree that can be traced back to work of Hume and Berkeley.
- Hume felt moral value is not amongst things that we sense
- Ayer's work was very important in clearing the ground and trying to make clear sense of language we use when we express ourselves in a variety of different ways
- Ayer also makes us reflect on the nature of our statements and acts to 'reign-in' those who are excessively metaphysical in their expression
- Ayer's work on ethical statements has strong pedigree that can be traced back to work of Hume and Berkeley.
- Weaknesses
- Peter Vardy
- Characterised Ayer's view of ethical language as an 'ethical non-theory'
- He doesn't believe that is constitutes an ethics theory at all and that it just discusses feelings
- Concerned Ayer draws too thick a line between empirical and metaphysical information
- He is of the opinion that we do have a real sense of rightness and wrongness of things and that language (perhaps inadequately) tries to reflect this
- Ayer is wrong to simply claim that ethical statements only express feelings
- Vardy disagrees with Ayer's view: 'All moral debate, becomes at the end of the day, just so much hot air and nothing else'
- Characterised Ayer's view of ethical language as an 'ethical non-theory'
- Ayer does not satisfactorily deal with link between ethical statements and ethical actions
- i.e. motivation
- Ayer's suggestion that is is not possible to contradict one another on points of ethics seems excessively dismissive
- Many people, notably those who adhere to absolutist or naturalist view of ethics would disagree with this
- Suggesting there are certain human actions which are wrong, that we should not perform
- e.g. genocide and child abuse and that it is therefore possible to contradict the views of others
- Suggesting there are certain human actions which are wrong, that we should not perform
- Many people, notably those who adhere to absolutist or naturalist view of ethics would disagree with this
- Peter Vardy
- Outline
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