cognitivism

In metaethics, the thesis that the function of moral sentences (e.g., sentences in which moral terms such as “right,” “wrong,” and “ought” are used) is to describe a domain of moral facts existing independently of our subjective thoughts and feelings, and that moral statements can accordingly be thought of as objectively true or false. Cognitivists typically try to support their position by seeking out analogies between moral discourse, on the one hand, and scientific and everyday factual discourse, on the other. Cognitivism is opposed by various forms of noncognitivism, all of which have in common the denial of the cognitivist claim that the function of moral sentences is to state or describe facts.

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