The Is-Ought Problem, the Open Question Argument, and the new science of morality

Human Affairs 21 (3):262-271 (2011)
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Abstract

The article deals with a recent attack by Sam Harris on two famous arguments that purport to establish a gap between factual and evaluative statements—Hume’s Is-Ought Problem and Moore’s Open Question Argument. I present the arguments, analyze the relationship between them and critically assess Harris’ attempt to refute them. I conclude that Harris’ attempt fails.

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10.2478/s13374-011-0027-3

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Radim Belohrad
Masaryk University

Citations of this work

Purism: Desire as the Ultimate Value, Part Two An Appeal to Intuition. Primus - 2023 - Philosophical Papers and Review 11 (2):15-34.

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References found in this work

Reasons and Persons.Derek Parfit - 1984 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
Principia ethica.George Edward Moore - 1903 - Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. Edited by Thomas Baldwin.
A treatise of human nature.David Hume - 2007 - In Elizabeth Schmidt Radcliffe, Richard McCarty, Fritz Allhoff & Anand Vaidya (eds.), Late modern philosophy: essential readings with commentary. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Principia Ethica.George Edward Moore - 1903 - International Journal of Ethics 14 (3):377-382.

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