Universal prescriptivism
Encyclopedia
Universal prescriptivism (often simply called prescriptivism) is the meta-ethical
view which claims that, rather than expressing proposition
s, ethical sentence
s function similarly to imperative
s which are universalizable
— whoever makes a moral judgment is committed to the same judgment in any situation where the same relevant facts obtain.
This makes prescriptivism a universalist
form of non-cognitivism
or expressivism
. Prescriptivism stands in opposition to other forms of non-cognitivism (such as emotivism
and quasi-realism
), as well as to all forms of cognitivism
(including both moral realism
and ethical subjectivism
).
Since the concept was introduced by philosopher R. M. Hare
in his 1952 book The Language of Morals, it has been compared to emotivism
and to the categorical imperative
of Immanuel Kant
.
For an illustrative example of the prescriptivist stance, consider the moral sentence "Murder is wrong". According to moral realism
, such a sentence claims there to be some objective property of 'wrongness' associated with the act of murder. According to moral relativism
, such a sentence simply claims that murder is disapproved of by society. According to emotivism
, such a sentence merely expresses an attitude of the speaker; it only means something like "Boo on murder!" But according to prescriptivism, the statement "Murder is wrong" means something more like "Do not murder" — what it expresses is not primarily a description or an emotion, it is an imperative. A value-judgment might also have descriptive
and emotive meanings, but these are not its primary meaning on a prescriptivist account.
Hare would allow utilitarian considerations to enter into such a formulation, but he would not base the formula or his ethical theory solely on a principle of utility. Hare believed that all of our ethical propositions ought to conform with logic.
Peter Singer
has expressed sympathy with Hare's position, though he is more strictly representative of the preference utilitarian
school.
A less esoteric criticism is the matter of Akrasia, or weakness of will. Simply knowing what is right, does not seem to motivate people to do right. Though this is generally accepted as a valid criticism, it can be countered by narrowing the paramaters of prescriptivism. These are the physical and psychological limitations of the individual. A similar move is made against Singer and other utilitarians (which Hare is not), when 'too much' is demanded. Utilitarians will argue that ethics simply is demanding and one should not make it easier simply because most (if not all) people fail at maximizing happiness. Hare does not make such an argument. Instead he divides the ethical system into components. Which in turn has caused others to attack the (arguably main) component: Prescriptivism.
Meta-ethics
In philosophy, meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties, statements, attitudes, and judgments. Meta-ethics is one of the three branches of ethics generally recognized by philosophers, the others being normative ethics and applied ethics. Ethical...
view which claims that, rather than expressing proposition
Proposition
In logic and philosophy, the term proposition refers to either the "content" or "meaning" of a meaningful declarative sentence or the pattern of symbols, marks, or sounds that make up a meaningful declarative sentence...
s, ethical sentence
Sentence (linguistics)
In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it...
s function similarly to imperative
Imperative mood
The imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
s which are universalizable
Universalizability
The concept of universalizability was set out by the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant as part of his work Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. It is part of the first formulation of his categorical imperative, which states that the only morally acceptable maxims of our actions are...
— whoever makes a moral judgment is committed to the same judgment in any situation where the same relevant facts obtain.
This makes prescriptivism a universalist
Moral universalism
Moral universalism is the meta-ethical position that some system of ethics, or a universal ethic, applies universally, that is, for "all similarly situated individuals", regardless of culture, race, sex, religion, nationality, sexuality, or any other distinguishing feature...
form of non-cognitivism
Non-cognitivism
Non-cognitivism is the meta-ethical view that ethical sentences do not express propositions and thus cannot be true or false...
or expressivism
Expressivism
Expressivism in meta-ethics 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...
. Prescriptivism stands in opposition to other forms of non-cognitivism (such as emotivism
Emotivism
Emotivism is a meta-ethical view that claims that ethical sentences do not express propositions but emotional attitudes. Influenced by the growth of analytic philosophy and logical positivism in the 20th century, the theory was stated vividly by A. J. Ayer in his 1936 book Language, Truth and...
and quasi-realism
Quasi-realism
Quasi-realism is the meta-ethical view which claims that:# Ethical sentences do not express propositions.# Instead, ethical sentences project emotional attitudes as though they were real properties....
), as well as to all forms of cognitivism
Cognitivism (ethics)
Cognitivism is the meta-ethical view that ethical sentences express propositions and can therefore be true or false , which noncognitivists deny...
(including both moral realism
Moral realism
Moral realism is the meta-ethical view which claims that:# Ethical sentences express propositions.# Some such propositions are true.# Those propositions are made true by objective features of the world, independent of subjective opinion....
and ethical subjectivism
Ethical subjectivism
Ethical subjectivism is the meta-ethical view which claims that:# Ethical sentences express propositions.# Some such propositions are true.# Those propositions are about the attitudes of people.This makes ethical subjectivism a form of cognitivism...
).
Since the concept was introduced by philosopher R. M. Hare
R. M. Hare
Richard Mervyn Hare was an English moral philosopher who held the post of White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford from 1966 until 1983. He subsequently taught for a number of years at the University of Florida...
in his 1952 book The Language of Morals, it has been compared to emotivism
Emotivism
Emotivism is a meta-ethical view that claims that ethical sentences do not express propositions but emotional attitudes. Influenced by the growth of analytic philosophy and logical positivism in the 20th century, the theory was stated vividly by A. J. Ayer in his 1936 book Language, Truth and...
and to the categorical imperative
Categorical imperative
The Categorical Imperative is the central philosophical concept in the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant, as well as modern deontological ethics...
of Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
.
For an illustrative example of the prescriptivist stance, consider the moral sentence "Murder is wrong". According to moral realism
Moral realism
Moral realism is the meta-ethical view which claims that:# Ethical sentences express propositions.# Some such propositions are true.# Those propositions are made true by objective features of the world, independent of subjective opinion....
, such a sentence claims there to be some objective property of 'wrongness' associated with the act of murder. According to moral relativism
Moral relativism
Moral relativism may be any of several descriptive, meta-ethical, or normative positions. Each of them is concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different people and cultures:...
, such a sentence simply claims that murder is disapproved of by society. According to emotivism
Emotivism
Emotivism is a meta-ethical view that claims that ethical sentences do not express propositions but emotional attitudes. Influenced by the growth of analytic philosophy and logical positivism in the 20th century, the theory was stated vividly by A. J. Ayer in his 1936 book Language, Truth and...
, such a sentence merely expresses an attitude of the speaker; it only means something like "Boo on murder!" But according to prescriptivism, the statement "Murder is wrong" means something more like "Do not murder" — what it expresses is not primarily a description or an emotion, it is an imperative. A value-judgment might also have descriptive
Descriptivist theory of names
Descriptivist theory of names is a view of the nature of the meaning and reference of proper names generally attributed to Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell...
and emotive meanings, but these are not its primary meaning on a prescriptivist account.
Hare would allow utilitarian considerations to enter into such a formulation, but he would not base the formula or his ethical theory solely on a principle of utility. Hare believed that all of our ethical propositions ought to conform with logic.
Peter Singer
Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...
has expressed sympathy with Hare's position, though he is more strictly representative of the preference utilitarian
Preference utilitarianism
Preference utilitarianism is one of the most popular forms of utilitarianism in contemporary philosophy. Unlike classical utilitarianism, which defines right actions as those that maximize pleasure and minimize pain, preference utilitarianism promotes actions that fulfill the interests of those...
school.
Criticisms
Three components define Hare's system: Prescriptivism, universalizability and overridingness. Though universalizability is usually meant to infer at least one of the other two components (if not both), Hare separates them. This is the strength of prescriptivism, but also its weakness. For example, if we prescribe something but don't find it to be overriding of anything; we'd be hardpressed to call it ethical. However, it seems the internal logic of prescribing something demands a certain level of overridingness. The logical component is referred to by Hare as universalizability, which seems to be instantly missing.A less esoteric criticism is the matter of Akrasia, or weakness of will. Simply knowing what is right, does not seem to motivate people to do right. Though this is generally accepted as a valid criticism, it can be countered by narrowing the paramaters of prescriptivism. These are the physical and psychological limitations of the individual. A similar move is made against Singer and other utilitarians (which Hare is not), when 'too much' is demanded. Utilitarians will argue that ethics simply is demanding and one should not make it easier simply because most (if not all) people fail at maximizing happiness. Hare does not make such an argument. Instead he divides the ethical system into components. Which in turn has caused others to attack the (arguably main) component: Prescriptivism.
External links
- Moral Cognitivism vs. Non-Cognitivism in the Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyStanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyThe Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a freely-accessible online encyclopedia of philosophy maintained by Stanford University. Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field, including professors from over 65 academic institutions worldwide...
- Prescriptivism at PhilosophyProfessor.com