Everything about Expressivism
Meta-ethical theory
In metaethics, expressivism is a theory about the meaning of moral language. According to expressivism, sentences that employ moral terms – for example, "It is wrong to torture an innocent human being" – are not descriptive or fact-stating; moral terms such as "wrong", "good", or "just" do not refer to real, in-the-world properties. The primary function of moral sentences, according to expressivism, is not to assert any matter of fact but rather to express an evaluative attitude toward an object of evaluation. Because the function of moral language is non-descriptive, moral sentences do not have any truth conditions. Hence, expressivists either do not allow that moral sentences have truth value, or rely on a notion of truth that does not appeal to any descriptive truth conditions being met for moral sentences. Wikipedia →
🧠Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: ExpressivismA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Speculative Aesthetic ExpressivismInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: The emotive theory of ethicsThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: EXPRESSIVISM AND THE OFFENSIVENESS OF SLURSCited 135 times
- Go sideways: Quasi-realismA closely related topic
- Go sideways: MetaethicsA closely related topic
đź“– Definitions
Noun The doctrine that moral statements such as "this is wrong" express a moral evaluation rather than a statement of fact
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
EXPRESSIVISM AND THE OFFENSIVENESS OF SLURS
Realist-Expressivism: A Neglected Option for Moral Realism
Ecumenical Expressivism: Finessing Frege
Hybrid Expressivism: Virtues and Vices
From Epistemic Contextualism to Epistemic Expressivism
The semantics of slurs: a refutation of pure expressivism
Three Ecosophies for the Anthropocene: Environmental Governance, Continental Posthumanism and Indigenous Expressivism
RELATIVISM (AND EXPRESSIVISM) AND THE PROBLEM OF DISAGREEMENT
🆕 Influential since 2022
đź“š Books worth reading
- 📕The emotive theory of ethicsJ. O. Urmson · 1968
- 📕Morality and the EmotionsJustin Oakley · 2020
- 📕Ethics of Wilfrid SellarsJeremy Randel Koons · 2018
Expressivism Pragmatism and RepresentationalismSimon Blackburn · 2013
From Empiricism to ExpressivismRobert B. Brandom · 2015
Thinking How to LiveAllan Gibbard · 2003
The Meaning of 'Ought'Matthew Chrisman · 2015
Being forMark Andrew Schroeder · 2008
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
đź”— Related topics
- Quasi-realism Quasi-realism is the meta-ethical view which claims that: Ethical sentences do not express propositions. Instead, ethical sentences project emotional attitudes…
- Metaethics In philosophy, metaethics (or meta-ethics) is the study of the nature, scope, ground, and meaning of moral judgment, ethical belief, or values. It is one…
- Non-cognitivism Non-cognitivism is the meta-ethical view that ethical sentences do not express propositions (i.e., statements) and thus cannot be true or false (they are…
- Moral nihilism Moral nihilism (also called ethical nihilism) is the metaethical view that nothing is morally right or morally wrong and that morality does not exist.…
- Universal prescriptivism Universal prescriptivism (often simply called prescriptivism) is the meta-ethical view that claims that, rather than expressing propositions, ethical sentences…
- Cognitivism (ethics) Cognitivism is the meta-ethical view that ethical sentences express propositions and can therefore be true or false (they are truth-apt), which noncognitivists…
- Emotivism Emotivism is a meta-ethical view that claims ethical sentences do not express propositions but emotional attitudes. Hence, it is colloquially known as…
- Allan Gibbard Allan Fletcher Gibbard (born 1942) is an American philosopher who is the Richard B. Brandt Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at…