Emotivism (OCR A-Level Religious Studies): Flashcards
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13 cards from this deck
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Practise the cards
13 cards from this deck
Emotivism definition
Emotivism definition
Moral statements are expressions of emotion, not facts
Ayer's meaningful language criteria
Ayer's meaningful language criteria
Analytical or synthetic statements
Analytical statement
Analytical statement
Mathematical truth/tautology (e.g. all bachelors are men)
Synthetic statement
Synthetic statement
Empirically verified (e.g. 'It is raining')
Why ethical statements meaningless (Ayer)
Why ethical statements meaningless (Ayer)
Not observable or true by definition
Ayer's emotivism nickname
Ayer's emotivism nickname
Boo/hurrah theory
Stephenson on moral disagreement
Stephenson on moral disagreement
We seek to persuade others to share our feelings
Quasi-imperative force
Quasi-imperative force
Ethical judgments influence & modify others' interests
Hare's criticism of emotivism
Hare's criticism of emotivism
Reductionism - reduces morals to just emotion
Warnock's criticism
Warnock's criticism
Torture being bad is fact not opinion
MacIntyre's criticism
MacIntyre's criticism
Can't distinguish types of disapproval (litter vs racism)
Emotivism strength: moral disputes
Emotivism strength: moral disputes
Explains why often un-ending, generate heat not light
Weakness: moral nihilism
Weakness: moral nihilism
Reduces to subjective opinion; can be dangerous