Moral sentimentalism
British Enlightenment and contemporary metaethics
It assigns affective responses a central role in explaining moral judgments or properties.
Historical context
Sentimentalist theories are associated with British debates of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and with their revival in metaethics.
Overview
Indignation or sympathy can help explain why features of a situation become morally salient. A theory must specify whether these responses motivate judgment, help form it, or enter its conditions of correctness.
Main claims
Affective responses play an explanatory role in moral judgment and motivation.
Debates and nuances
Psychological theses and theses about moral truth can be defended independently.
This entry provides educational context.