Subjectivism

Subjectivism

Subjectivism (relativism)

Subjectivism teaches that there are no objective moral truths out there.

• There are no objective moral facts. Therefore 'murder is wrong' can't be objectively true

Many forms of subjectivism go a bit further and teach that moral statements describe how the speaker feels about a particular ethical issue.

• Moral statements are just factual statements about the attitude the speaker holds on a particular issue
• So if I say "Lying is wrong", all I'm doing is telling you that I disapprove of telling lies

Some forms of subjectivism generalise this idea to come up with:

• Moral statements are just factual statements about the attitude normal human beings hold on a particular issue

And this may ultimately lead us to this conclusion about moral truths:

• Moral judgements are dependent on the feelings and attitudes of the persons who think about such things

Good points of subjectivism

Reflects the subjective elements of morality

• it reflects the close relationship between morality and people's feelings and opinions - indeed it can cope with the contradictory moral views we often find ourselves wrestling with

Reflects the evaluative elements of moral statements

• moral statements in everyday life make judgements ("lying is wrong"), factual statements ("cats have fur") don't

Shows that moral judgements communicate dis/approval

• it reflects the communication of approval and disapproval that seems to go along with the everyday making of moral statements

May clarify what people are arguing about

• subjectivism may enable people disagreeing over the rightness or wrongness of some issue to see that the real dispute is not about objective truth but about their own preferences

Reflects the persuasive intentions behind ethical discussions

• subjectivism may also enable people engaging in moral argument to realise that they are not arguing about objective truths but trying to persuade their opponent to adopt their point of view

I disapprove: but surely ethics is about more than feelings ©

Bad points of subjectivism

The problem with subjectivism is that it seems to imply that moral statements are less significant than most people think they are - this may of course be true without rendering moral statements insignificant.

"If I approve of something, it must be good"

• Subjectivism seems to tell us that moral statements give information only about what we feel about moral issues.
• If the simplest form of subjectivism is true then when a person who genuinely approves of telling lies says "telling lies is good" that moral statement is unarguably true. It would only be untrue if the speaker didn't approve of telling lies.
• So under this theory it seems that all the speaker has to do to prove that lying is good is to show lots of evidence that they do indeed approve of lying - perhaps that they tell lots of lies and feel good about it, indeed are surprised if anyone criticises them for being a liar, and that they often praise other people for telling lies.
• Most people would find this way of approaching ethics somewhat unhelpful, and wouldn't think it reflected the way in which most people talk about ethical issues.

Moral statements seem more than statements about feelings

• By and large if a person says something is wrong we usually get the message that they disapprove of that something, but most of us probably think that the other person is doing more than just telling us about their feelings.

How can we blame people if moral truths are always subjective?

• If moral statements have no objective truth, then how can we blame people for behaving in a way that 'is wrong', i.e. if "murder is wrong" has no objective truth, then how can we justify punishing people for murder?
• One answer is that we can justify punishment for murder on the basis of the objective truth that most normal people in society disapprove of murder. If we do this, we should not pretend that our justification is based on anything other than the majority view.