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Objective or Subjective ‘Ought’?

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  • HANSSON, SVEN OVE

Abstract

The prescriptive ‘ought’ has both an objective and a subjective interpretation. In the objective sense, what one ought to do depends on what is actually true. In the subjective sense it depends on what one believes to be true. Ordinary usage seems to vacillate between these two interpretations. An example (the indecisive terrorist) is used to show that a subjective ought statement can have a determinate truth-value in situations where the corresponding objective ought statement has no truth-value, not even an unknowable one. Therefore the subjective ought is not definable in terms of the objective ought. However, definability in the other direction is not excluded by this argument.

Suggested Citation

  • Hansson, Sven Ove, 2010. "Objective or Subjective ‘Ought’?," Utilitas, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(1), pages 33-35, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:utilit:v:22:y:2010:i:01:p:33-35_99
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