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Non-Cognitivism and Validity

Alm, David LU (2007) In Theoria: a Swedish Journal of Philosophy 73(2). p.121-147
Abstract
In this paper I defend against a certain objection the view that it is possible to account for validity and kindred notions for moral language within a non-cognitivist framework by appeal to the descriptive meaning of moral terms. The objection is that such an account leads to an asymmetry in the accounts it offers for synonymy in different contexts; in certain contexts it holds that sameness of meaning for a moral term depends on its evaluative meaning, in other contexts that it depends on the term's descriptive meaning. In the third part of the paper I try to show why non-cognitivists should be prepared to live with that asymmetry. In the process I also deal with two other objections.
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
validity, descriptive meaning, Non-cognitivism, inference, attitudes
in
Theoria: a Swedish Journal of Philosophy
volume
73
issue
2
pages
121 - 147
publisher
Thales
external identifiers
  • wos:000257240900003
  • scopus:77949370517
ISSN
0040-5825
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4840f0fc-8bb6-4827-bbf2-a799358c5ff6 (old id 737967)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:10:52
date last changed
2022-01-28 17:50:07
@article{4840f0fc-8bb6-4827-bbf2-a799358c5ff6,
  abstract     = {{In this paper I defend against a certain objection the view that it is possible to account for validity and kindred notions for moral language within a non-cognitivist framework by appeal to the descriptive meaning of moral terms. The objection is that such an account leads to an asymmetry in the accounts it offers for synonymy in different contexts; in certain contexts it holds that sameness of meaning for a moral term depends on its evaluative meaning, in other contexts that it depends on the term's descriptive meaning. In the third part of the paper I try to show why non-cognitivists should be prepared to live with that asymmetry. In the process I also deal with two other objections.}},
  author       = {{Alm, David}},
  issn         = {{0040-5825}},
  keywords     = {{validity; descriptive meaning; Non-cognitivism; inference; attitudes}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{121--147}},
  publisher    = {{Thales}},
  series       = {{Theoria: a Swedish Journal of Philosophy}},
  title        = {{Non-Cognitivism and Validity}},
  volume       = {{73}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}