Prospects of ethical cognitivism

The study centers around the main moral and theoretical problem: how can moral norms be substantiated and whether it is possible to formulate a rule that allows reaching a principled agreement based on arguments in practical discussions. The paper considers the logical foundations of D. Hume’s principle, analyzes its most important methodological consequences, introduces various ways of justifying value judgments, and notes the conceptual dichotomy “cognitivism — noncognitivism”. Within the framework of the cognitive approach, we considered the ethics of discourse developed by J. Habermas and revealed the most important difference between the formalist universalist undertakings of I. Kant and J. Rawls from the ethics of discourse. Furthermore, we analyzed the main provisions and principles of the discourse ethics substantiation program proposed by J. Habermas and indicated the main advantages of this approach compared to previous attempts to justify the ethics of discourse, as well as the prospects for its further development.

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