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PHI 2604 – Critical Thinking/Ethics Handouts Lenel

Rev. 5/2020

Subjective Ethical Theories

I. Emotivism Criticism

According to this theory, moral judgments have no cognitive content, thus no truth value. Moral judgments merely reflect subjective attitudes and emotions. Without a truth value, there can be no moral statements! Thus, “it is morally wrong to hit an innocent child” becomes a moral utterance, neither true nor false.

The theory contradicts many of our deeply held moral

convictions. For example, the theories denies that, “Killing

babies for fun is morally wrong” is a true statement.

II. Approbative Ethical Theories

A. The Divine Command Theory According to this theory, an action is only morally

right because God approves of the action. But, if you ask why God approves of the action, there seems to be nothing to say. Thus God has no moral reasons for that of which He approves!

The theory robs God of having moral reasons for that of which He

approves.

B. Subjective Relativism According to this theory, an action is morally right

simply because the agent (the one doing the action) approves of the action. No matter how atrocious the behavior may appear to others, as long as the agent believes the behavior is morally right, it is!

The theory implies that every individual is morally infallible, which

is extremely unlikely to be true.

C. Cultural Relativism According to this theory, an action is morally right

because one’s culture approves of the action. Thus it is cultures who create moral values by believing in them collectively. If there is disagreement within a culture, then an action is morally right because the majority of one’s culture approves of the action.

This theory implies that there can be no moral progress over time. It

implies that every culture (past and present) has moral values that are

equally correct. The theory implies that moral issues can be settled by taking a survey. Far from justifying

the moral rightness of tolerance, the theory undermines the view

that tolerance is objectively morally right, as well as any other objective

moral value. Finally, while it does recognize that individuals can be

mistaken in their moral judgments, it does imply that every culture is

morally infallible, which is extremely unlikely to be true.