non-cognitivism
Ethics without truths
Non-cognitivism is a position in philosophy holding that moral statements don't express beliefs or factual claims but rather attitudes, emotions, or commands.
When you say Stealing is wrong, a non-cognitivist argues you're not stating a truth about the world but expressing disapproval or issuing a directive.
The view challenges whether ethical claims can be true or false at all.
Enforcing linguistic correctness
- BlackburnTown in northwest England
- moral disagreementDispute about rightness
Belief truth is personal
- relativismContext-dependent truth doctrine
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
- intuitionismKnowledge through direct insight
Causing prices to fall
- meaningWhat something signifies
- assertionConfident statement of fact
- propositionStatement expressing a judgment
- illocutionary forceCommunicative purpose of utterance
Scottish family name
- attitudeSettled way of thinking
- approvalFavorable opinion given
- disapprovalUnfavorable opinion expressed
- sentimentFelt attitude or view
persuasion · feeling · projection · commendation · condemnation · affect · motivation
Evaluating right and wrong
- consistencyReliable adherence to standards
- moral truthObjective fact about goodness
- minimalismAesthetic of reduction
prescriptivism
Enforcing linguistic correctness
- BlackburnTown in northwest England
- moral disagreementDispute about rightness
subjectivism
Belief truth is personal
- relativismContext-dependent truth doctrine
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
intuitionism · realism · objectivism · constructivism · sentimentalism
deflationary
Causing prices to fall
- meaningWhat something signifies
- assertionConfident statement of fact
- propositionStatement expressing a judgment
illocutionary force · declarative · imperative · descriptive · normative
Stevenson
Scottish family name
- attitudeSettled way of thinking
- approvalFavorable opinion given
- disapprovalUnfavorable opinion expressed
sentiment · persuasion · feeling · projection · commendation · condemnation · affect · motivation
moral reasoning
Evaluating right and wrong
- consistencyReliable adherence to standards
- moral truthObjective fact about goodness
- minimalismAesthetic of reduction
- ethicsmorality, deontology, dignity, sanctity of life, utilitarianism
- antirealism
- metaethicsmoral relativism, prescriptivism, moral truth, externalism, open question
non-cognitivismcognitivism
Theory prioritizing mental processes
recognize, recognition, recognized, cognitive, incognito, recognizing, recognizable, cognition, cognizant