Wednesday, February 1, 2006 PHL 105Y

1
Wednesday, February 1, 2006PHL 105Y

• For Monday, read Saul Kripkes A Priori
  Knowledge, Necessity and Contingency (pages
  249-257 in the Pojman)
• The Academic Skills Centre is running special
  group sessions for ESL students Tuesdays 1-2 and
  Wednesdays 9-10. Sessions are free but you need
  to sign up drop by SB2115 or phone (905)
  828-3858.
• For tutorial this Friday, answer one of the
  following questions
• Explain Ayers distinction between normative
  ethical symbols and descriptive ethical symbols.
• What does Ayer think is wrong with statements
  asserting the existence of a transcendent god?

2
Alfred Jules Ayer(1910-1989)

• Our selections are from
• Language, Truth and Logic
• (1936, revised 1946)

3
What makes a sentence significant?

• We say that a sentence is factually significant
  to a given person, if and only if, he knows how
  to verify the proposition which it purports to
  express that is, if he knows what observations
  would lead them, under certain conditions, to
  accept the proposition as being true, or reject
  it as being false. (151)

4
The reality of the world

• Is the world real or illusory?

5
The reality of the world

• Is the world real or illusory?
• Ayer thinks this is a pseudo-question there is
  no set of observations that could be used to
  answer it
• We can say whether a painting is a real Goya or
  not we cannot say whether there is a real world
  or not trying to do so is simply an abuse of
  language

6
The status of the principle

• Is the principle of verifiability itself a bit of
  problematic metaphysics?

7
The status of the principle

• Is the principle of verifiability itself a bit of
  problematic metaphysics?
• Ayer can (and does) argue that the principle
  itself is not a statement of fact but the record
  of a determination to use language in a certain
  way
• (Does that work?)

8
Ayer on Ethics and Theology
9
A useful distinction

• Ayer distinguishes between two types of
  proposition
• Synthetic (like Humes matters of fact)
• The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.
• White rats are sometimes kept as pets.
• Analytic (like Humes relations of ideas)
• Triangles have three sides.
• White rats are white.
• Q

10
A useful distinction

• Ayer distinguishes between two types of
  proposition
• Synthetic (like Humes matters of fact)
• The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.
• White rats are sometimes kept as pets.
• Analytic (like Humes relations of ideas)
• Triangles have three sides.
• White rats are white.
• Q How would you classify ethical statements?

11
Four kinds of ethical statement

• 1. Definitional.
• Morally permissible means not forbidden.
• Murder is the immoral and deliberate
  termination of anothers life.
• 2. Descriptive.
• Most people feel guilty when they have done
  something morally wrong.
• Murder is considered worse than theft.
• 3. Exhortatory.
• Dont steal music.
• 4. Actual ethical judgments.
• Stealing music is wrong.

12
Four kinds of ethical statement

• 1. Definitional. ANALYTIC
• Morally permissible means not forbidden.
• Murder is the immoral and deliberate
  termination of anothers life.
• 2. Descriptive. SYNTHETIC
• Most people feel guilty when they have done
  something morally wrong.
• Murder is considered worse than theft.
• 3. Exhortatory.
• Dont steal music.
• 4. Actual ethical judgments.
• Stealing music is wrong.

13
Four kinds of ethical statement

• 1. Definitional. ANALYTIC
• Morally permissible means not forbidden.
• Murder is the immoral and deliberate
  termination of anothers life.
• 2. Descriptive. SYNTHETIC
• Most people feel guilty when they have done
  something morally wrong.
• Murder is considered worse than theft.
• 3. Exhortatory. NON-PROPOSITIONAL!
• Dont steal music.
• 4. Actual ethical judgments. NON-PROPOSITIONAL!
• Stealing music is wrong.

14
Moral exhortations

• Dont steal!
• Dont lie to your friends!
• Dont commit murder!
• Why arent these sentences expressing
  propositions?
• And what about stealing is wrong?

15
Does murder is wrongexpress a proposition?

• Is this a proposition?
• (1) Murder causes great psychological distress
  to the victims loved ones, and causes social
  unrest

16
Does murder is wrongexpress a proposition?

• Is this a proposition?
• (1) Murder causes great psychological distress
  to the victims loved ones, and causes social
  unrest
• Why couldnt murder is wrong be a disguised
  descriptive proposition, a quick way of saying
  something like (1)?

17
Utilitarianism and subjectivism

• For utilitarians, an option is morally good if it
  brings the greatest happiness to the greatest
  number of people.
• Subjectivists claim that morally good means
  approved of.
• Do these theories make ethical judgments into
  propositions?

18
Utilitarianism and subjectivism

• Ayer thinks that there is no contradiction in
  saying that an option is morally good even though
  it is not the option that brings the greatest
  happiness to the greatest number of people.
• Ayer thinks that there is no contradiction in
  saying that an option is morally good even
  though it is not approved of in the way
  subjectivists find definitive of the good.

19
Utilitarianism and subjectivism

• Ayer argues that utilitarianism and subjectivism
  are not ways of explaining our existing ethical
  concepts, but proposals to replace those notions
  with new ones.
• (Why not go for the idea that morality should be
  just happiness-maximizing or desire-satisfying?)

20
Ayer on a tricky ambiguity

• When we say that stealing music is wrong, we
  might mean either
• (1) Stealing music is widely considered to be
  wrong or In our culture, certain relevant
  authorities disapprove of stealing music or I
  feel guilty when I steal music (descriptive),
  or
• (2) Stealing music is wrong. (a real ethical
  judgment)
• How are these different? What is the special
  character of (2)?

21
What is special about ethical judgments

• Ethical judgments do not express special
  propositions, according to Ayer
• Rather, ethical judgments are expressions of
  feeling they cannot be true or false.
• To say stealing music is wrong as an ethical
  judgment is like saying, boo to stealing music
  to say that honesty is good is like saying
  hurray for honesty.

22
Ethical disputes

• If ethical judgments really amount to saying boo
  and hurray for different actions, what are we to
  make of ethical disputes?

23
Ethical disputes

• If ethical judgments really amount to saying boo
  and hurray for different actions, what are we to
  make of ethical disputes?
• Ayer thinks that ethical disputes are, as far as
  they can be carried on rationally, usually
  disputes about the facts of a given case. If we
  are agreed on all descriptive facts, reason
  cannot help us further.