Summary Of The Subjectivity Of Values By John Mackie

In the piece “The Subjectivity of Values” by John Mackie, the writer introduces what he calls “moral skepticism” which centralizes his argument against objective morality which he ultimately believes to be false. Initially, Mackie states that his main case is not a first order form, which is a more normative perspective associated with either a positive or negative view. Instead, he stresses that his stance is ontological which discusses metaethics and is considered to be second order where he is merely interested in the reality of morality and how it functions in the world. Although Mackie doesn’t necessarily state that he agrees with subjectivism, the notion that our morality is influenced by one’s opinions and attitudes, his viewpoint is similar to it in the way that it disagrees with the existence objective moral values. Overall, Mackie doesn’t precisely note

As a result, this dismisses the idea of objectivity and the existence of there being a fine line between what is right and wrong. Therefore, if subjectivism heavily influenced moral judgement, then believing whether something is good or bad it is simply derived from whether or not they approve or disapprove of that situation. However, this does not entirely compose the attitude that Mackie has. Instead, he states that his doctrine is a negative one which addresses “what there isn’t, not what there is” (Mackie 648). Ultimately, his standpoint denies objective values but it does not mean that it’s an “equivalent to subjective reports”. Rather than choosing between objectivism and subjectivism, Mackie focuses on the idea of how moral judgements effect the way we perceive reality through a metaethical perspective by discussing the “Argument of Relativity” and the “Argument of