Ethical Subjectivism and Expressivism

Assessing ethical subjectivism and expressivism against the central features of moral practice.

Neil Sinclair (Author)

9781108706513, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 September 2020

75 pages
23 x 15.3 x 0.6 cm, 0.23 kg

Ethical subjectivists hold that moral judgements are descriptions of our attitudes. Expressivists hold that they are expressions of our attitudes. These views cook with the same ingredients – the natural world, and our reactions to it – and have similar attractions. This Element assesses each of them by considering whether they can accommodate three central features of moral practice: the practicality of moral judgements, the phenomenon of moral disagreement, and the mind-independence of some moral truths. In the process, several different versions of subjectivism are distinguished (simple, communal, idealising, and normative) and key expressivist notions such as 'moral attitudes' and 'expression' are examined. Different meanings of 'subjective' and 'relative' are examined and it is considered whether subjectivism and expressivism make ethics 'subjective' or 'relative' in each of these senses.

Preface
1. Motivations and methodology
2. 'Subjective' and 'relative'
3. Simple subjectivism
4. Complex subjectivism
5. Expressivism
Glossary
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Philosophy [HP]