BIBLICAL ETHICS
Study Guide for Emotivist Ethics – Chapter 3 of Ethics by
Arthur Holmes
Define ethical emotivism.
There is a procedural disqualification inherent to emotivism. It is this: ___________ judgments
are not possible because the ethical terms they use have no _____________________ or
______________________. (If this is true, then there is really no way to resolve moral
disagreements!)
How does emotivism differ from ethical subjectivism?
Emotivist ethics came into popularity because of a reaction against “supposedly universal
_____________________ ________________,” and an acceptance of logical positivism, which
states that only what can be verified by _____________________________ can count as truth.
What is the Boo-Hurrah Theory?
How do the following verses relate to the core ideas of emotivist ethics?
Matthew 27:22-23 -
Psalm 37:12 -
Professor Christopher Ullman – Christian Life College -- 1
BIBLICAL ETHICS
Ephesians 4:31 -
What is good about the emotions that accompany our ethical evaluations and decisions?
What triggers emotions? List some causes.
Can we control the way we feel about an action, person, or idea?
What does it mean to say that all facts are theory-laden?
What makes consequences of an action (for example, capital punishment) “good” or “bad?”
What do these verses mean in the context of our considerations of emotions and ethics?
Isaiah 29:13 -
Proverbs 26:23-24 -
Ephesians 6:6 -
Can you think of other passages that link emotions and ethics in some way?
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BIBLICAL ETHICS
“Moral matters frequently are emotionally charged, and ethical language can carry a lot of
emotional freight.” Explain.
A key word in this discussion is the adjective cognitive. Look it up in a dictionary, along with
cognition and cognizance. What does the word recognize mean?
How do ethical language and moral evaluation involve cognition?
Explain Holmes’ statement “First of all, I want to maintain that emotivism (the noncognitive
view) implies ethical subjectivism (a cognitive view).”
The emotivist approach to ethics depends upon a way of thinking about knowledge (thinking
about how we know something is what epistemology is all about). We see that ethics (a branch
of philosophy) overlaps epistemology (another branch of philosophy). You will have to make a
decision about the positivist view of cognitive meaning. Do you agree that meaning must either
be analytic or empirical? Defend your answer.
How is one’s attitude about a decision (“That’s right!” or “That’s wrong!”) related to the
objective situation in which the decision is being made?
Why does it matter than ethics involves evaluation, and not just expressions of emotions?
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