Single Idea 6970

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / h. Expressivism]

Full Idea

To say, as I once did, that moral judgements are merely expressive of certain feelings is an oversimplification; ..moral attitudes consist in certain patterns of behaviour, and the expression of a judgement is an element in the pattern.

Gist of Idea

Moral judgements are not expressions, but are elements in a behaviour pattern

Source

A.J. Ayer (On the analysis of moral judgements [1949], p.238)

Book Reference

Ayer,A.J.: 'Philosophical Essays' [Macmillan 1965], p.238


A Reaction

This seems to switch from emotivism to what Frank Jackson calls 'moral functionalism', where morality is what gets us from certain emotional responses to willed actions. This strikes me, like most functional explanations, as wrong.