A Study of Frege’s Influence on A. J. Ayer’s Theory of Emotivism

نوع مقاله : مقاله علمی پژوهشی

نویسنده

Ph.D. Assistant prof. of Ethics, University of Isfahan, Iran.

چکیده

No doubt, Gottlob Frege and A. J. Ayer are considered to be among the most prominent contemporary philosophers. Insofar as one of them has revolutionized the linguistic domain while the other has influenced the domain of ethics in a diametrical fashion. Ayer’s theory of emotivism is regarded as one of the most controversial moral theories in the past century. We believe that Frege, as a linguistic philosopher, has influenced emotivism in the methodological, logical, semantic, and epistemological domains. The emphasis on two fundamental principles of “compositionality” and “contextuality”; “the existence of mathematical concepts independent from mind”, “empiricism and verificationism” are all variables upon which emotivism is clearly dependent. The latter claim can be substantiated via analysis of the works of Ayer and particularly his “Language, Truth, and Logic” as well as his assertion in the introduction to this book concerning his debt to Frege. Among the most significant results of this essay, one can refer to the demonstration of the point that what constitutes the identity of the theory of emotivism is influenced by the “general line of linguistic analysis” in the aforementioned four domains.

کلیدواژه‌ها


عنوان مقاله [English]

A Study of Frege’s Influence on A. J. Ayer’s Theory of Emotivism

نویسنده [English]

  • Mohsen Shiravand
Ph.D. Assistant prof. of Ethics, University of Isfahan, Iran.
چکیده [English]

No doubt, Gottlob Frege and A. J. Ayer are considered to be among the most prominent contemporary philosophers. Insofar as one of them has revolutionized the linguistic domain while the other has influenced the domain of ethics in a diametrical fashion. Ayer’s theory of emotivism is regarded as one of the most controversial moral theories in the past century. We believe that Frege, as a linguistic philosopher, has influenced emotivism in the methodological, logical, semantic, and epistemological domains. The emphasis on two fundamental principles of “compositionality” and “contextuality”; “the existence of mathematical concepts independent from mind”, “empiricism and verificationism” are all variables upon which emotivism is clearly dependent. The latter claim can be substantiated via analysis of the works of Ayer and particularly his “Language, Truth, and Logic” as well as his assertion in the introduction to this book concerning his debt to Frege. Among the most significant results of this essay, one can refer to the demonstration of the point that what constitutes the identity of the theory of emotivism is influenced by the “general line of linguistic analysis” in the aforementioned four domains.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Frege
  • Ayer
  • Ethics
  • Emotivism
Ashby, R. W. (1956) “Use and Verification”. Aristotelian Society oxford Academics. 56. London.
Ayer, A. J. (1945). Language, Truth and Logic. Retrived from: http://s-f-walker.org.uk/pubsebooks/pdfs/ayerLTL.pdf
Carnap, R. (1947). Meaning and Necessity Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Frege, G, (1997 f.). Thought. In Gaech, P., & Stoothoff, R. H. (Eds.). The Frege Reader. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 325-345.
Frege, G. (1997 b). Grudgesetze der Arithmetik, V.I, Selections. In Beany, M. (Ed.). The Frege Reader, pp. 194-223. Oxford: Blackwell.
Rosen, G., Rosen B., & Richard T. (n.d.). Moral Philosophy: A Systematic Introduction to Normative Ethics and Meta-ethics. New York: Macmillan. Chapter 13.
Hacker, P. M. S. (n.d.). Analytic Philosophy: What, from where to Where? In Biletzki, A., & Mater, A. (Eds.). The Story of Analytic Philosophy, Plot, and Heroes. London: Routledge.
Janssen, T. M. V. (2001). Frege, Contextuality and Compositionality. Journal of Logic, Language and Information. 10(1)..
Khatami, M. (2012). Madkhal-i Falsafe-yi Gharbi-yi Mʿuasir [Introduction to Contemporary Western Philosophy]. Tehran: Science Publishing,Experimental Sciences, Serat.
Khorramshahi, B. (1999). Positivism-i Mantiqi [Logical Positivism]. Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publications.
Meysami, S. (2006). Falsafe-yi Tahlili [Analytical Philosophy]. Ney Publishing.
Miller, Alexander, (2015). VI—Emotivism and the Verification Principle. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. 98(1).
Pelletier, F. J. (2001). Did Frege Believe Frege's Principle? Journal of Logic, Language and Information. 10(1), 87-114.
Salerno, J. (2011). Frege. (Saeedi Mehr, M, Trans.). Scientific and Cultural Publications.
Sluga, H. (1980). Gottlob Frege. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Soroush, A. (2009). Ilm Shenasi-yi Falsafi; Guftarha-yi dar Falsafe-yi Ulum-i Tajrubi [Philosophical Scientology; Discourses in the Philosophy of Experimental Sciences]. Tehran: Sarat.
Waller, B. N. (1986). The Virtues of Contemporary Emotivism. Erkenntnis.25(1)
Wiggins, D. (2010). Ayer's Ethical Theory: Emotivism or Subjectivism? Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements. Cambridge University Press.30(1).
CAPTCHA Image