Emotivism

Key Terms:

Emotivism: The idea that moral statements are not statements of fact, but are indicators of emotional states.

Non-Cognitivism: The belief that moral statements are not subject to truth or falsify

Logical positivism: An idea developed by members of the Vienna Circle which considered philosophical analysis to be the way to undermine whether an idea is meaningful

Key Quotes:

‘The vice entirely. escapes you, as long as you consider the object’ - Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature

‘The presence of an ethical symbol in a proposition adds nothing to its factual content. Thus if I say to someone, "You acted wrongly in stealing that money, I am not saying anything more than if I had simply said, 'You stole that money. In adding that this action is wrong, I am not making any further statement about it. I am simply evincing my moral disapproval of it. It is as if I had said, 'You stole that money, in a peculiar tone of horror, or written it with the addition of some special exclamation marks.’ - A.J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic

What is emotivism?

Emotivism believes that there are no moral truths; moral statements are based on feelings of approval or disapproval. It is an anti-realist theory, believing that there are no moral facts. It is also a non-cognitivist theory - believing that statements made about right and wrong are not subject to truth or falsity. The emotivist believes that ethical statements are meaningless.

The Vienna Circle and The Verification principle

The background to emotivism is found in the work of the logical positivists and the philosophy of Hume.

The verification principle put forward by the logical positivists suggests that statements are only meaningful if (1) they are analytic statements (true by definition) or (2) they are synthetic statements that are verified by the senses. Hume had previously argued that moral judgements were feelings or sentiments rather than factual judgements. When we observe the facts of a situation we are not able to see the rightness or wrongness.

Ayer’s Emotivism

A.J. Ayer (1910-1989) agreed with the logical positivists on the verification principle. His weak version of it says that we should only view statements as meaningful if we are able to say how we could verify them (see the Philosophy of Religion section of the specification). As moral statements are neither logical nor provable by the senses, this means that they are factually meaningless.

Ayer argues that it is important to look at what ethical statements are for rather than look for 'meaning. This means that we need to look at how speakers use the words 'right' and 'wrong'. Ethical statements show emotional states or feelings about issues. The words 'right' and 'wrong' don't add anything; they merely convey an approving or disapproving tone.

Evince

Ayer uses the term 'evince' to explain how ethical statements may show an emotional state. It does not quite mean the same as expressing an emotional state, as Ayer points out that we may or may not actually feel the emotion that our words indicate.

Making Links

The discussion as to whether ethical language is meaningful is parallel to the discussion of the meaningfulness of religious language in philosophy of religion