Exoneratism - Cognitive or Emotive Theory?

The philosophy of Exoneratism employs a search for knowledge and truth in the realm of ethics in order to gain inner peace by eradicating any guilt-ridden attitudes.

The search for knowledge, concerned with the nature, scope and limits of knowledge, employs a branch of philosophy called Epistemology.

There are two opposing epistemological theories:

• the “emotive theory,” wherein ethical judgments are considered advisory rather than confirmable, and
• “cognitivism,” which argues that ethical judgments can be reduced to factual knowledge.

Exoneratism does not employ the “emotive theory,” for the following reasons:

• Advisory judgments of the “emotive theory” would apply to metaphysical concepts such as the existence of God and an afterlife simply because they defy logic and are based on faith. The bases for such concepts are stated in the Bible in a cemented form, having been written by an unidentifiable hand. Exoneratism does not deny or accept faith; it merely finds it impossible to debate the issue.

• It must be noted that, quite the opposite, the philosophy, Objectivism, founded by Ayn Rand (1), a professed atheist, does vehemently deny faith. Ayn Rand states “religion is adversarial to man’s ability to reason. The ability (to think) is not used by men to one-tenth of its possibility, yet before they learn to think they are discouraged by being ordered to take things on faith. Faith is the worst curse of mankind, as the exact antithesis and enemy of thought.”

• EXONERATISM REFUTES RAND’S ABOVE CLAIM. Exoneratism does not consider that faith and thought are enemies, but rather that faith and thought cannot be applied to the same concepts.

• The Exoneratist deals only with phenomenological (2) thought and concepts to which reason can be applied.

• The Faithful deal with the concepts of religion, God and an afterlife to which only faith and hope can be applied.

Therefore, for the above 5 reasons, Exoneratism cannot and does not employ the “emotive theory.”

However, as stated earlier in the Introduction to Exoneratism, Cognitivism is an essence of Exoneratism. This will be more fully discussed next time.

(1) Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, Russian-born American philosopher and novelist and founder of “Objectivism.
(2)Phenomenological thought and concepts. Philosophical study of phenomena as opposed to ontology, the study of being.