SOME OF THE MAIN PROBLEMS OF ETHICS
C. D. Broad
Published in Philosophy 21 (1946).
Analysis of Moral Judgments
The Interjectional Analysis
The Autobiographical Analysis
The Statistical Analysis
The Objective Analysis
Naturalistic v. Non-naturalistic Theories
Right-making and Good-making Characteristics
Intention and Rightness
Motives and their Ethical Function
Specifically Moral Motivation and Emotion
Epistemological Questions
Ethics, in the sense in which that word is used by philosophers, may be described as the theoretical treatment of moral phenomena. I use the phrase 'moral phenomena' to cover all those facts and only those in describing which we have to use such words as 'ought', 'right and wrong', 'good and evil', or any others which are merely verbal translations of these.
Moral phenomena fall into three distinct, though closely interconnected groups, viz. moral judgment, moral emotion, and moral volition. Suppose that I know or believe that I ought to keep a promise, though it might be more convenient to break it; that it is wrong to inflict useless pain on an innocent person, though it might be pleasant to score off him in public; that love is a good emotion and jealousy an evil one; and so on. These bits of knowledge or belief are instances of moral judgments. Suppose that I believe myself to have behaved wrongly on a certain occasion and that I feel remorse or self-disapproval, as distinct from mere fear of punishment or embarrassment at being found out, on that account. These feelings will be instances of moral emotion. Suppose, finally, that I have to decide between two alternative courses of action, one of which I believe to be right, and the other of which is pleasanter in itself or more attractive in its probable consequences. In so far as I am influenced in my decision by the thought that one of them is right and that the other would be wrong, and by the desire to do what is right as such, this is an instance of moral volition.
Analysis of Moral Judgments
The first and most fundamental problem of Ethics is about the nature of moral judgments and the concepts 'ought', 'right', 'good', etc., which are the most characteristic elements in them. Suppose I assert, deliberately and reflectively and not merely talking like a parrot, that on a certain occasion ought not to have broken a promise which he had made to B. Then,prima facie, the following things seem to be true:
That in uttering this sentence, which I will call a 'moral sentence in the indicative mood', I am asserting an opinion(correct or incorrect) which I hold, and am not merely expressing an emotion which I feel.
That the opinion which I am asserting is not merely about my own feelings or wishes or beliefs. In saying that A ought to have kept his promise to B. I seem to be asserting about A and B and their relationship something which is no more about me and my attitude towards them than if I had asserted that A is B's second cousin.
That what I assert about A's breach of his promise to B, viz. that it was wrong and ought not to have happened, is something unique and peculiar, though perfectly familiar and intelligible to everyone. It cannot be expressed by any form of words which does not contain the words 'right' or 'ought' or some others which are obviously mere verbal translations of them.
Now all these prima facie appearances have been questioned on more or less plausible grounds by competent moral philosophers, and this has led to some of the most fundamental discussions in ethics. I will now say something of the various alternative views which have been held on these points.
1. The Interjectional Analysis.
The most radically sceptical view is that what appear to be moral judgments are not really judgments, i.e. assertions of knowledge or opinion, at all; but are merely expressions of a certain kind of emotion. It is alleged that, when a person utters such a sentence as, 'This is wrong' or 'That is evil', he is really only expressing a certain kind of anti-emotion towards this or that. It is true that he uses a form of sentence which inevitably suggests that he is asserting an opinion and not merely expressing an emotion. For the sentence is of the same grammatical form as if he had said 'This is triangular', which is certainly an assertion of opinion. But, it is alleged, the grammatical form is misleading in the case of moral sentences in the indicative.
I propose to call this theory the interjectional analysis. On this view there are no moral judgments; there are only what might be called 'ostensible moral judgments'. Moral sentences in the indicative mood are really interjections, like 'Hurray!' or 'Blast!', masquerading as assertions of opinion.
2. The Autobiographical Analysis.
Suppose we reject the interjectional analysis. Suppose we hold that, when a person utters a moral sentence in the indicative, he really is making a moral judgment. Then the next most sceptical view is that what he is asserting is simply that he feels a certain kind of emotion, pro or anti, towards the subject which he pronounces to be right or wrong, good or evil. I shall call this the autobiographical analysis.
It must be noticed that it could take two different forms.
It might be held that, when I judge that so-and-so is right, what I am asserting is simply that I here and now am feeling towards so-and-so a certain kind of pro-emotion. If so, my judgment is analogous to 'This butter tastes nice' uttered by a person while eating that butter.
It might be held that what I am asserting is that I have a disposition to feel this kind of pro-emotion towards such persons or acts or situations as so-and-so. If so, my judgment is analogous to 'I like butter'. A person might truly say that he likes butter even if, on the occasion when he said so, he found the taste of butter repulsive because, e.g., he was feeling bilious.
I shall call these two forms of the autobiographical analysis respectively the occurrent and the dispositional form.
It might be thought that there is no difference between the interjectional analysis and the occurrent form of the autobiographical analysis. This would be a mistake. There is a difference between merely expressing an emotion by means of an exclamation, e.g., ejaculating 'Damn!' when one is annoyed at losing one's collar-stud, and asserting that one is feeling such and such an emotion towards such and such an object, e.g., saying, 'I am annoyed at finding that I have lost my collar-stud'. An animal, e.g., can express an emotion of anger by snarling, but it cannot make the judgment which a man would express by saying, 'I am angry with so-and-so'. On the interjectional analysis to utter a moral sentence in the indicative is like expressing a feeling of annoyance with so-and-so by exclaiming, 'Damn you!'; on the occurrent form of the autobiographical analysis it is like stating that one is feeling annoyed with so-and-so.
3. The Statistical Analysis.
Suppose next that both forms of the autobiographical analysis are rejected also. It is still possible to suggest an analysis in terms of pro-emotion and anti-emotion. The suggestion would be that, when I judge that so-and-so is right, what I am asserting is that all or most men, or all or most members of some more restricted class, e.g. Englishmen or Etonians, have a disposition to feel a certain kind of pro-emotion towards persons or acts or situations like so-and-so. On this view moral judgments may be compared to such a judgment as 'Jazz music is popular'. This might be truly asserted by a person even if he were himself indifferent to jazz music or heartily disliked it. I shall call this the statistical analysis.
Before going further I want to make two remarks about the three alternative kinds of analysis which I have been describing.
All three of them arc stated in terms of certain emotions which a person may feel towards himself or towards another person or towards an action or a relationship. They may therefore all be described as emotional-reaction theories.
The interjectional analysis and the two forms of autobiographical analysis agree with each other and differ from the statistical analysis in the following respect. The former may be described as intra-subjective. For, according to them, when a person utters a moral sentence in the indicative, what he is doing is either to express an emotion which he is feeling or to make an assertion to the effect that he is feeling a certain emotion or has a disposition to feel it. The statistical analysis, on the other hand, may be described as trans-subjective. For, according to it, when a person utters such a sentence he is asserting something about a whole class of persons which may or may not happen to include himself.
4. The Objective Analysis.
Finally, let us suppose that all forms of emotional reaction theory are rejected. Then we must hold that a person who makes a moral judgment is ascribing to its subject a certain property which would belong to it even if no one had ever contemplated it or felt any kind of emotion towards it. On this view A's judgment that B’s act of telling a lie on a certain occasion was wrong is comparable, in this respect at any rate, to a person's judgment that the weather in Cambridge on a certain day was rainy. He may indeed have been influenced by his emotions to make this assertion; but what he asserts is not about the emotions of himself or anyone else towards the weather in Cambridge on that day. Let us call this theObjective Analysis of moral judgments.
Naturalistic v. Non-naturalistic Theories
The question of analysis brings us to another question which is closely connected with it. Are moral predicates, such asright, ought and good, unique and peculiar; or can they be completely analysed and defined in terms of non-moral predicates? Theories which answer this question in the affirmative are called naturalistic; those which answer it in the negative are calle
SOME OF THE MAIN PROBLEMS OF ETHICS
C. D. Broad
Published in Philosophy 21 (1946).
Analysis of Moral Judgments
The Interjectional Analysis
The Autobiographical Analysis
The Statistical Analysis
The Objective Analysis
Naturalistic v. Non-naturalistic Theories
Right-making and Good-making Characteristics
Intention and Rightness
Motives and their Ethical Function
Specifically Moral Motivation and Emotion
Epistemological Questions
Ethics, in the sense in which that word is used by philosophers, may be described as the theoretical treatment of moral phenomena. I use the phrase 'moral phenomena' to cover all those facts and only those in describing which we have to use such words as 'ought', 'right and wrong', 'good and evil', or any others which are merely verbal translations of these.
Moral phenomena fall into three distinct, though closely interconnected groups, viz. moral judgment, moral emotion, and moral volition. Suppose that I know or believe that I ought to keep a promise, though it might be more convenient to break it; that it is wrong to inflict useless pain on an innocent person, though it might be pleasant to score off him in public; that love is a good emotion and jealousy an evil one; and so on. These bits of knowledge or belief are instances of moral judgments. Suppose that I believe myself to have behaved wrongly on a certain occasion and that I feel remorse or self-disapproval, as distinct from mere fear of punishment or embarrassment at being found out, on that account. These feelings will be instances of moral emotion. Suppose, finally, that I have to decide between two alternative courses of action, one of which I believe to be right, and the other of which is pleasanter in itself or more attractive in its probable consequences. In so far as I am influenced in my decision by the thought that one of them is right and that the other would be wrong, and by the desire to do what is right as such, this is an instance of moral volition.
Analysis of Moral Judgments
The first and most fundamental problem of Ethics is about the nature of moral judgments and the concepts 'ought', 'right', 'good', etc., which are the most characteristic elements in them. Suppose I assert, deliberately and reflectively and not merely talking like a parrot, that on a certain occasion ought not to have broken a promise which he had made to B. Then,prima facie, the following things seem to be true:
That in uttering this sentence, which I will call a 'moral sentence in the indicative mood', I am asserting an opinion(correct or incorrect) which I hold, and am not merely expressing an emotion which I feel.
That the opinion which I am asserting is not merely about my own feelings or wishes or beliefs. In saying that A ought to have kept his promise to B. I seem to be asserting about A and B and their relationship something which is no more about me and my attitude towards them than if I had asserted that A is B's second cousin.
That what I assert about A's breach of his promise to B, viz. that it was wrong and ought not to have happened, is something unique and peculiar, though perfectly familiar and intelligible to everyone. It cannot be expressed by any form of words which does not contain the words 'right' or 'ought' or some others which are obviously mere verbal translations of them.
Now all these prima facie appearances have been questioned on more or less plausible grounds by competent moral philosophers, and this has led to some of the most fundamental discussions in ethics. I will now say something of the various alternative views which have been held on these points.
1. The Interjectional Analysis.
The most radically sceptical view is that what appear to be moral judgments are not really judgments, i.e. assertions of knowledge or opinion, at all; but are merely expressions of a certain kind of emotion. It is alleged that, when a person utters such a sentence as, 'This is wrong' or 'That is evil', he is really only expressing a certain kind of anti-emotion towards this or that. It is true that he uses a form of sentence which inevitably suggests that he is asserting an opinion and not merely expressing an emotion. For the sentence is of the same grammatical form as if he had said 'This is triangular', which is certainly an assertion of opinion. But, it is alleged, the grammatical form is misleading in the case of moral sentences in the indicative.
I propose to call this theory the interjectional analysis. On this view there are no moral judgments; there are only what might be called 'ostensible moral judgments'. Moral sentences in the indicative mood are really interjections, like 'Hurray!' or 'Blast!', masquerading as assertions of opinion.
2. The Autobiographical Analysis.
Suppose we reject the interjectional analysis. Suppose we hold that, when a person utters a moral sentence in the indicative, he really is making a moral judgment. Then the next most sceptical view is that what he is asserting is simply that he feels a certain kind of emotion, pro or anti, towards the subject which he pronounces to be right or wrong, good or evil. I shall call this the autobiographical analysis.
It must be noticed that it could take two different forms.
It might be held that, when I judge that so-and-so is right, what I am asserting is simply that I here and now am feeling towards so-and-so a certain kind of pro-emotion. If so, my judgment is analogous to 'This butter tastes nice' uttered by a person while eating that butter.
It might be held that what I am asserting is that I have a disposition to feel this kind of pro-emotion towards such persons or acts or situations as so-and-so. If so, my judgment is analogous to 'I like butter'. A person might truly say that he likes butter even if, on the occasion when he said so, he found the taste of butter repulsive because, e.g., he was feeling bilious.
I shall call these two forms of the autobiographical analysis respectively the occurrent and the dispositional form.
It might be thought that there is no difference between the interjectional analysis and the occurrent form of the autobiographical analysis. This would be a mistake. There is a difference between merely expressing an emotion by means of an exclamation, e.g., ejaculating 'Damn!' when one is annoyed at losing one's collar-stud, and asserting that one is feeling such and such an emotion towards such and such an object, e.g., saying, 'I am annoyed at finding that I have lost my collar-stud'. An animal, e.g., can express an emotion of anger by snarling, but it cannot make the judgment which a man would express by saying, 'I am angry with so-and-so'. On the interjectional analysis to utter a moral sentence in the indicative is like expressing a feeling of annoyance with so-and-so by exclaiming, 'Damn you!'; on the occurrent form of the autobiographical analysis it is like stating that one is feeling annoyed with so-and-so.
3. The Statistical Analysis.
Suppose next that both forms of the autobiographical analysis are rejected also. It is still possible to suggest an analysis in terms of pro-emotion and anti-emotion. The suggestion would be that, when I judge that so-and-so is right, what I am asserting is that all or most men, or all or most members of some more restricted class, e.g. Englishmen or Etonians, have a disposition to feel a certain kind of pro-emotion towards persons or acts or situations like so-and-so. On this view moral judgments may be compared to such a judgment as 'Jazz music is popular'. This might be truly asserted by a person even if he were himself indifferent to jazz music or heartily disliked it. I shall call this the statistical analysis.
Before going further I want to make two remarks about the three alternative kinds of analysis which I have been describing.
All three of them arc stated in terms of certain emotions which a person may feel towards himself or towards another person or towards an action or a relationship. They may therefore all be described as emotional-reaction theories.
The interjectional analysis and the two forms of autobiographical analysis agree with each other and differ from the statistical analysis in the following respect. The former may be described as intra-subjective. For, according to them, when a person utters a moral sentence in the indicative, what he is doing is either to express an emotion which he is feeling or to make an assertion to the effect that he is feeling a certain emotion or has a disposition to feel it. The statistical analysis, on the other hand, may be described as trans-subjective. For, according to it, when a person utters such a sentence he is asserting something about a whole class of persons which may or may not happen to include himself.
4. The Objective Analysis.
Finally, let us suppose that all forms of emotional reaction theory are rejected. Then we must hold that a person who makes a moral judgment is ascribing to its subject a certain property which would belong to it even if no one had ever contemplated it or felt any kind of emotion towards it. On this view A's judgment that B’s act of telling a lie on a certain occasion was wrong is comparable, in this respect at any rate, to a person's judgment that the weather in Cambridge on a certain day was rainy. He may indeed have been influenced by his emotions to make this assertion; but what he asserts is not about the emotions of himself or anyone else towards the weather in Cambridge on that day. Let us call this theObjective Analysis of moral judgments.
Naturalistic v. Non-naturalistic Theories
The question of analysis brings us to another question which is closely connected with it. Are moral predicates, such asright, ought and good, unique and peculiar; or can they be completely analysed and defined in terms of non-moral predicates? Theories which answer this question in the affirmative are called naturalistic; those which answer it in the negative are calle
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