THIS IS FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES. REDISTRIBUTION IS PROHIBITED.

(Prepared by: Hermenegildo G. Mondigo III)

SUBJECTIVISM

• For Subjectivism (SB):

• “X is good” means “I like X.”

- Pick your moral principles by following your feelings.

Subjectivism – says that moral judgments describe how we feel. To call something “good” it is to say
that we have positive feeling toward it.

• Subjectivism (SB) disagrees with the notion of CR the good=socially approved.

• CR denies every person the freedom to form each one’s personal judgement.

• For SB, moral freedom is very important.

• Subjectivism (SB) disagrees with the notion of CR the good=socially approved.

• CR denies every person the freedom to form each one’s personal judgement.

• SB doesn’t want to be forced (just like CR) to accept all of society’s values.

• For SB, moral freedom is very important

• SB affirms CR that “good” is relative. However, not to society but to the individual.

• For SB: My value judgements are about how I feel, not about how the society feels.

• For SB: My value judgements describe my own emotions.

• For SB, moral freedom = process of growing up.

• For SB: We expect children to parrot the values they were taught. On the other hand, we expect
adults to think things out and form their own values.

• SB holds that truths are relative to the individuals.

• Values exist only in the preference of individual people. Hence, no preference is objectively
correct or incorrect.

OBJECTION ON SUBJECTIVISM

• For SB:

• I like X.

• X is good.

• The biggest problem is that subjectivism makes goodness depend completely on what we like.

• Say for instance:

• I like getting drunk and hurting people.

• Getting drunk and hurting people is good.

• SB gives a very crude approach to morality, whereby we simply do as we like.

• SB confused what we like and what is good.

• If a person is morally immature, he/she may like thinks what he/she thinks bad.

• SB suggested about our freedom to form our moral beliefs but did not say how to use this
freedom in a responsible way.

• SB suggested to follow our feelings but did not suggest how to develop our wise feelings.