The emotive meaning of ethical terms finds support in Stevenson’s contribution to emotivism and ethics in general. The term emotivism refers to a theory about moral judgments, sentences, words, and speech acts. It is essential to contrast it with subjectivism, the view that moral beliefs and utterances represent someone’s attitudes. Stevenson’s emotivism theory is a result of his disagreements with restricted naturalist’s accounts of ethical discourse. Noncognitivist theories deny that moral expressions of opinion take the form of a report or description. They are often vague about the powerful mechanism. Lastly, the emotive meaning of ethical terms used today is all thanks to Stevenson’s contribution to emotivism.
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STEVENSON’S EMOTIVISM THEORY AND REASONS FOR DEVELOPING THE THEORY
Stevenson’s emotivism theory was a result of several reasons which focused on moral discourse. Additionally, Stevenson’s views were the result of dissatisfaction with both restricted naturalist and intuitionist accounts of ethical discussion. Therefore, these theories, he claimed, rendered the meanings of moral words purely in terms of natural and non-natural properties. Stevenson’s contribution to emotivism led to a paradigm shift in how people viewed ethics. By drawing attention solely to the cognitive function of ethical language, a bridge existed between moral properties and relations and the immediacy and intimacy of personal decision and action. The emotive meaning of moral terms changed due to Stevenson’s contribution to emotivism by challenging traditional ethical descriptions.
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STEVENSON’S CONTRIBUTION TO EMOTIVISM AND HIS MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Stevenson’s contribution to emotivism changed the views on the ethical language at the time. Traditionally the study of ethics had involved a quest for the truth about what is good and right. But Stevenson abandoned that search and set out to investigate the practical use of ethical language to shape attitudes. The beginning of Stevenson’s emotivism theory faced resistance from various quarters in the moral field. Also, in a series of articles, and his 1944 book Ethics and Language, he proposed answers to classical philosophical questions. The emotive meaning of ethical terms used in the past changed due to Stevenson’s contribution to emotivism.
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