EMP Chapter 3 Summary In this chapter of The Elements of Moral Philosophy the authors speak on the idea of ethical

subjectivism (SS). In the beginning of the chapter, it began stating information about the Gallup Poll where they ask Americans, Do you feel that homosexuality should be considered an alternate lifestyle or not? Using this poll they also addressed whether they think that homosexual relations are morally acceptable or morally wrong. In both cases, the number of Americans who agreed started to increase. I think this proves to show Americas changing thoughts on homosexuality. The next section begins with a quick summary of how theories develop. Theories usually being as a simple idea, then as defects/objectives are constructed. At this stage, some individuals are so captivated by objections that they choose to abandon the theory while others keep the strong and establish an improved version. The first stage of evolution is simple subjectivism. In this stage, when a person expresses that something is morally good or bad, it shows that they either approve or disapprove of it. When people disagree on a topic this demonstrates the inaccuracy of simple subjectivism because it cannot account for disagreement. Another, fact about simple subjectivism is that it implies were always right. Since we are sometimes wrong in evaluations of morals this also proves the SS is incorrect. From these examples, SS proves to be a flawed theory; however people have worked to improve it. This improvement is known as Emotivism and it is the second stage of evolution. This section talks about moral language and how it is used as a way to influence the behavior of others and express an attitude on a subject. As I said Emotivism is an improvement on SS. In simple subjectivism, judgments cannot be criticized because they are always true. Then with Emotivism our judgments once again cannot be criticized because they are only expressions of attitude. But neither explains the role of reason in ethics. A moral judgment must be backed by good reasons. In this section Stevenson states Any statement about any fact which any speaker considers likely to alter attitudes may be adduced as a

reason for or against an ethical judgment. The first lesson to take from this is that Emotivism is faulty and it generates doubt on subjectivism. The second is deals with the significance of ethical reasoning. The chapter goes on to speak about 3 points that could be raised for why moral judgments are unprovable. 1. Scientific proof is often wanted, but there are no observations and experiments in ethics. 2. The most difficult issues are used to prove ethical opinions. 3. It is easy to put together two uniquely different matters. The final segment speaks on homosexuality and how it is reduced to being something that is unnatural. The first meaning they give is that it is unnatural because if is not shared by most people. The next one deals with the parts of our bodies having a specific purpose. Finally, the third meaning they state is a term of evaluation. The main point of this chapter was to show the nature of moral thinking. Ethics is about weighing reasons and being guided by them rather than following ones feelings.