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Can logical positivism account for moral values and subjective judgments?

Catalina Melesk

Logical positivism, also known as logical empiricism, is a philosophical movement that emerged in the early 20th century. Its goal was to create a system that would guarantee the validity of scientific statements while dismissing metaphysical, theological, and ethical claims. This position was based on the belief that only statements that could be verified empirically were meaningful, and if something could not be proved, then it was meaningless. As a result, the question arises, can logical positivism account for moral values and subjective judgments? The answer to this is both yes and no.

Positivists would argue that there is no such thing as objective morality, and any ethical statements cannot be verified through observation and experiment. In this sense, they reject the claims of moral intuitionists' who hold that moral judgments are grounded in some objective moral reality, which can be accessed directly through our inner senses. Logical positivists believe that ethical statements are nothing more than expressions of individual opinions and attitudes, and there is no independent reality behind them.

However, despite this, positivism still has a way of accommodating objective ethical judgments. According to the posits's view, ethical claims are subject to verification and falsification, albeit by a different method than empirical ones. The method of verification in the case of moral statements is not direct empirical observation but rather the coherence, consistency, and agreement of such statements with other bodies of statements. Ethical claims are assessed based on whether they hold up or not in the light of other knowledge claims.

Furthermore, positivists have always insisted that subjective judgments can be addressed as scientific statements detailing psychological conditions and relationships. Positivists argue that the description of morally relevant data and the application of scientific methods can be used to reveal the facts about subjective judgments. By exploring the psychological and social factors that contribute to subjective judgments, positivists contend that they can be measured objectively. For instance, moral psychologists have investigated the role of empathy, moral reasoning, and moral values in shaping moral judgments.

In conclusion, while logical positivism may have issues with accounting for moral values and subjective judgments, it has a way of accommodating them through verification and falsification. Positivists would argue that ethical claims are subject to consistency and coherence tests, while subjective judgments can be measured through scientific observation. Therefore, while logical positivism may have its limitation, it could still contribute to the study of moral values and subjective judgments.