Knowra Is–ought problem Is–ought problem The is–ought problem is the challenge of deriving a normative conclusion about what ought to be from descriptive premises about what is without an additional normative premise.
Hume's law : The principle that normative conclusions cannot be validly derived from purely descriptive premises without a normative premise. It states the logical constraint at the heart of the is–ought problem.
David Hume : An eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher known for his empiricism, skepticism, and theory of moral sentiment. Hume noted that moral arguments often shift from statements of fact to statements of obligation.
Moral naturalism : The metaethical view that moral facts are identical with or grounded in natural facts. It tests whether moral conclusions can be natural facts without simply inferring ought from is.
Moral skepticism : A family of views questioning whether moral knowledge, justified moral belief, or moral truths exist. The is–ought problem limits one kind of justification but does not itself deny moral knowledge or truth.
Fact–value distinction : The distinction between claims about how things are and claims about how they should be. It separates the descriptive and normative claims whose relation is disputed.
A Treatise of Human Nature : David Hume's three-volume work on human understanding, passions, and morals, published between 1739 and 1740. Its moral philosophy contains the passage that inspired the problem's standard formulation.
Evolutionary ethics : The study of how evolutionary processes relate to the origins, development, or justification of moral beliefs and behavior. Evolutionary explanations describe moral tendencies but do not by themselves establish moral obligations.
Moral relativism : The view that moral judgments or truths depend on a culture, individual, or framework rather than holding universally. Relativism concerns the status of moral claims, not whether descriptive premises alone entail them.
Normative ethics : The branch of ethics that develops principles for determining what actions are right or wrong. The problem concerns how normative ethical conclusions can be supported.
G. E. Moore : A British philosopher whose work helped establish analytic philosophy and shaped twentieth-century metaethics. Moore's argument against defining good in natural terms is often confused with Hume's point.
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