While I'm getting around to a longer, time-consuming post, I'll dig out my famous metaethical, neo-Humean, hypothetical-imperative-explaining limerick:
Though an “is” alone won’t give support
To a value, a norm, or an “ought”,
If you mix on the fire
Both belief and desire,
You’ll get thought of an “ought” of a sort.
About Me
- Russell Blackford
- Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).
5 comments:
Laffing Out Loud. That is beautiful.
Very good!
Very nice :-) Been teaching a course on the Treatise focusing on moral philosophy several years. I'll be sure to include this one in the course material next time!
Yeah.... I kind of get it. It reminds me of this intel commercial.
Speaking of tone ... DM sure has one. I wonder if he read the limerick first. LOL.
You can (kind of) tell who is familiar with the history of the is/ought problem by how much they appreciate this clever bit of doggerel. The more you know, the harder you laugh.
Since DM didn't laff at all ... ummm ...
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