Allan Gibbard Wise Choices Apt Feelings

The notion of expressivism explains moral language utilized in mainstream cultural discourses. The basic goal of expressivism is to convey an evaluative attitude toward a specific goal. According to Allan Gibbard, the idea does not establish any facts. The term expressivism is used to describe all sorts of un-factualism and anti-realism. The concept of expressivism does not support the assertion that moral sentences employed in regular language do not represent the speaker’s moral ideals or attitudes. Gibbard argues in normative discourse that expressivists should band together and reject ethical subjectivism perceptions. Subjectivism theory gives a descriptive and not an expressivists view. It maintains that in normative discourse, the moral sentences are representative of the facts about the subject’s psychological state (182).

In his Wise Choices, Apt Feelings, Allan Gibbard comes up with the norm-expressivism analysis which seeks to shed light on rationality and morality. Gibbard borrows mostly from the experimental and evolutionary theories. This view is based on the traditional and political moral philosophies. Careful analysis of these postulates from Allan Gibbard reveals the disputes and quandaries over what should be regarded as rational or irrational. It seeks to explain what is morally right and what can be said to be morally wrong. According to Gibbard, judgments made based on what people think, what makes sense, and how they feel is right at the center of what shapes people’s way of life (181).

In the book, Gibbard takes up a variety of possible and potential difficulties that characterize his analysis. His treatment receives a special depth and richness from the sensitivity and complexity of the subject matter in normative and norm-expressivists discourses. However, Gibbard falls short of fulfilling certain objectives in his analysis. He takes his approach to be relatively plausible considering the aptness or fitness of the speaker’s emotions (191). One would expect that the plan should focus on the usefulness and convenience of the emotions.

Issues are also raised in the manner in which Gibbard dismisses the theory of crude instrumentalism on emotions in normative and norm-expressivists discourses. In the scope of normative discussions, one is free to accept or reject certain norms which may not be crudely instrumental per se. Therefore, his rejection of crude instrumentalism about emotions merely on analytic grounds does not add up, and this makes Gibbard not be right in his argument.

The view that all norms in norm-expressivists are norms of rationality is one issue that is not very attractive in Allan Gibbard’s book. From a crude instrumentalist’s point of view, it makes sense for a parent who gets angered at a child without much regard to the wrong actions of the child. In this analogy of the child, it can be rightly argued that the emotional anger is likely to result in spontaneous response directed at the child. This spontaneous response is said to be beneficial to all concerned parties even though the child may have done his/her best cognitively from a moral viewpoint.

The substantive theory of rationality is also expressed using the aptness that Gibbard talks about in the title of the book. If a person accepts the theory of crude instrumentalism about emotions in normative discourse, it is implausible to identify one’s moral judgment extensionally based on the rationality of emotions. All these arguments portray Gibbard’s analysis of the nature of moral judgments in norm-expressivists discourses.

Gibbard seems to concentrate more on emotive discourses and does not pay much attention to the various types of norms. According to him, moral norms are those behaviors that are regarded as being appropriate (196). He talks about aesthetic norms which explain the rationality of various forms of aesthetic appreciation. This does not harmonize entirely with the normative judgments in different forms of discourses. Based on these normative judgments, it is plausible to accept classifications made based on the grounds of judgments rather than emotional responses in the evaluation of rationality and morality. Going by this claim, all judgments in norm-expressivists discourses should be prudential taking into consideration the well-being of the agent or subject matter.

Gibbard introduces yet another perspective on the scope of normative discourse. He seeks to bring out a naturalistic understanding in the sphere of normative discourse. This is an opinion that is informed by recognizing the fact that human beings are evolved social animals. This argument offers a naturalistic account of human lives and the essence of human existence. Gibbard uses the expressionist theory to explain normative discourses (197).

In conclusion, when one employs normative judgments, they do portray the world as it is essentially but rather they express their views and acceptance of different social norms. The expressivists account has considerably contributed to the understanding of some normative discourses. The basis of normative discourses is one’s acceptance of certain societal norms that spell out how people should conduct themselves. Some things are rationally evaluated, and the normative judgments are not merely based on people’s actions.

Works Cited

Gibbard, Allan. Wise Choices, Apt Feelings. Harvard University Press, 1990.