University of Kansas, Fall 2004
Philosophy 160: Introduction to Ethics
Ben Eggleston—eggleston@ku.edu

Stevenson’s three criteria

Following are the three criteria that Stevenson says must be met by any proposed translation of a moral judgment about whether something is good:

  1. The translation must account for disagreement about what is good (Stevenson, p. 16.4).
  2. The translation must account for the “magnetism” of calling something good (Stevenson, p. 16.6).
  3. The translation must not imply that the goodness of something can be ascertained scientifically (Stevenson, p. 16.8).

And here are some “translations” that various (competing) meta-ethicists might offer of the sentence ‘Honesty is good’. For each one, indicate whether it meets each of Stevenson’s three criteria.

translation of ‘Honesty is good’ 1? 2? 3?
1 I desire (or approve of) honesty. (This is the translation Stevenson says was proposed by Hobbes, and is of course the translation proposed by simple subjectivism.)      
2 Most people desire (or approve of) honesty. (This is the translation Stevenson says was proposed by Hume.)      
3 Honesty was valued by the framers of the American constitution.      
4 Honesty is essential to truly being a person.      
5 Honesty tends to help one’s reputation.      
6 I am inclined to be honest.