Charles Stevenson Quotes
Charles Leslie Stevenson was an American moral philosopher and the principal architect of the emotivist account of ethical language. After studies at Yale, Cambridge, and Harvard, he held long professorships at Yale and at Michigan. The quotes below are attributed to Charles Stevenson, organized by topic.
Charles Stevenson on Truth
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Attributed to Charles Stevenson:
“Words such as 'good' have a magnetism: they attract emotions as well as describe.”
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Attributed to Charles Stevenson:
“Persuasive definitions hide normative claims as descriptions.”
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Attributed to Charles Stevenson:
“Ethical language is dynamic; it does what it says.”
Charles Stevenson on Virtue
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Attributed to Charles Stevenson:
“Moral disagreement is often disagreement in attitude.”
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Attributed to Charles Stevenson:
“The work of ethics is the clarification of moral conflict.”