The is–ought problem, as articulated by the Scottish philosopher and historian David Hume, arises when one makes claims about what ought to be that are based solely on statements about what is. Hume found that there seems to be a significant difference between descriptive or positive statements (about what is) and prescriptive or normative statements (about what ought to be), and that it is not obvious how one can coherently move from descriptive statements to prescriptive ones. Hume’s law or Hume’s guillotine, is the thesis that, if a reasoner only has access to non-moral and non-evaluative factual premises, the reasoner cannot logically infer the truth of moral statements.
“This paper introduces hume’s law (the fulcrum of the ‘is-ought’ problem of moral philosophy) into the property valuation literature, and uses it as a prism to reflect on the nature and limitations of standard valuation theory. the paper shows how a consideration of hume’ thesis can help to clarify and solve some specific practical problems in property valuation. the opportunity presented by the subject of property valuation is, in turn, used to reflect back on hume’s thesis itself, to show conditions under which hume’s law may be said to be false. the paper makes important contributions both to the property valuation literature and to the literature on moral philosophy. with respect to property valuation, it proposes a change in the manner conclusions of valuations are reported, and the replacement of the notion of valuation accuracy by the wider and more socially appropriate concept of reasonableness.”
Spielthenner, G.. (2017). The Is-Ought Problem in Practical Ethics. HEC Forum
“This article is concerned with the role empirical research can play in normative practical ethics. there is no doubt that ethical research requires some kind of collaboration between normative disciplines and empirical sciences. but many researchers hold that empirical science is only assigned a subordinate role, due to the doctrine that normative conclusions cannot be justified by descriptive premises. scientists working in the field of ethics commonly hold, however, that the empirical sciences should play a much bigger role in ethical research. the aim of this paper is to show that empirical sciences can play a substantive role in normative ethics, with no illicit inferences from is to ought. to achieve this aim, i explain (in ‘the is-ought problem explained’ section) hume’s thesis. in the following sections, i am concerned with different uses of empirical data that do not imply an illicit inference from descriptive premises to a normative conclusion. the article demonstrates that there are many modes of ethical reasoning that allow for a substantive use of empirical data, and it also shows the importance of hume’s thesis for clarifying ethical reasoning.”
Hapla, M.. (2020). Justification of human rights and is-ought problem. Casopis pro Pravni Vedu a Praxi
“Clarifying the transition from facts to norms is one of the key issues of legal philosophy and ethics. in the article, the author analyzes how various theories of justification of human rights attempt to solve it. he first characterizes human rights as critical moral rights and clarifies in what sense we can say that they exist. he then describes the is-ought problem and analyzes why some approaches cannot deal with him adequately. at first, he focuses on human rights justification through the concept of basic needs and capabilities, later on robert alexy’s explicative-existential justification. however, the greatest attention is paid to the justification theory, which was constructed by alan gewirth, one of the main representatives of ethical rationalism. according to the author, this is the most sophisticated attempt to deal with this problem in the field of human rights. in the last part of the article, the author formulates his own opinion on it. according to him, the solution is to stop imposing absolute demands on the justification of these rights, but to start assessing its strengths and weaknesses in relation to the concepts that compete with it.”
Pigden, C.. (2001). The Is-Ought Problem: An Investigation in Philosophical Logic. Australasian Journal of Philosophy
“Book information the is-ought problem: an investigation in philosophical logic. by gerhard schurz. kluwer. dordrecht. 1997. pp. x + 332. {â}textsterling92.25.”
Iwasa, N.. (2011). Sentimentalism and the is-ought problem. Croatian Journal of Philosophy
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“Examining the moral sense theories of francis hutcheson, david hume, and adam smith from the perspective of the is-ought problem, this essay shows that the moral sense or moral sentiments in those theories alone cannot identify appropriate morals. according to one interpretation, hume’s or smith’s theory is just a description of human nature. in this case, it does not answer the question of how we ought to live. according to another interpretation, it has some normative implications. in this case, it draws normative claims from human nature. anyway, the sentiments of anger, resentment, vengeance, superiority, sympathy, and benevolence show that drawing norms from human nature is sometimes morally problematic. the changeability of the moral sense and moral sentiments in hume’s and smith’s theories supports this idea. hutcheson’s theory is morally more appropriate because it bases morality on disinterested benevolence. yet disinterested benevolence is not enough for morality. there are no sentiments the presence of which alone makes any action moral.”
de Vries, R.. (2011). The Uses and Abuses of Moral Theory in Bioethics. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice
Sisk, B. A., Mozersky, J., Antes, A. L., & DuBois, J. M.. (2020). The “Ought-Is” Problem: An Implementation Science Framework for Translating Ethical Norms Into Practice. American Journal of Bioethics
“We argue that once a normative claim is developed, there is an imperative to effect changes based on this norm. as such, ethicists should adopt an ‘implementation mindset’ when formulating norms, and collaborate with others who have the expertise needed to implement policies and practices. to guide this translation of norms into practice, we propose a framework that incorporates implementation science into ethics. implementation science is a discipline dedicated to supporting the sustained enactment of interventions. we further argue that implementation principles should be integrated into the development of specific normative claims as well as the enactment of these norms. ethicists formulating a specific norm should consider whether that norm can feasibly be enacted because the resultant specific norm will directly affect the types of interventions subsequently developed. to inform this argument, we will describe the fundamental principles of implementation science, using informed consent to research participation as an illustration.”
The quadrivium (plural: quadrivia) is the four subjects, or arts, taught after teaching the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning four ways, and its use for the four subjects has been attributed to Boethius or Cassiodorus in the 6th century. Together, the trivium and the quadrivium comprised the seven liberal arts (based on thinking skills), as distinguished from the practical arts (such as medicine and architecture).
Etymologically, the Latin word trivium means “the place where three roads meet” (tri + via); hence, the subjects of the trivium are the foundation for the quadrivium, the upper division of the medieval education in the liberal arts, which comprised arithmetic (number), geometry (number in space), music (number in time), and astronomy (number in space and time). Educationally, the trivium and the quadrivium imparted to the student the seven liberal arts of classical antiquity.[1]
Grammar teaches the mechanics of language to the student. This is the step where the student “comes to terms,” defining the objects and information perceived by the five senses. Hence, the Law of Identity: a tree is a tree, and not a cat.
Logic (also dialectic) is the “mechanics” of thought and of analysis, the process of identifying fallacious arguments and statements and so systematically removing contradictions, thereby producing factual knowledge that can be trusted.
Rhetoric is the application of language in order to instruct and to persuade the listener and the reader. It is the knowledge (grammar) now understood (logic) and being transmitted outwards as wisdom (rhetoric).
One can utilise a computer analogy to conceptually explain the Trivium. Per analogiam, input (via input channels such as the senses/sensors, or any other form of information transmission ) refers to grammar, processing to logic (thought & analysis), and output to rhetoric (written words & spoken language).
Sister Miriam Joseph, in The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric (2002), described the trivium as follows:
Grammar is the art of inventing symbols and combining them to express thought; logic is the art of thinking; and rhetoric is the art of communicating thought from one mind to another, the adaptation of language to circumstance.
. . .
Grammar is concerned with the thing as-it-is-symbolized. Logic is concerned with the thing as-it-is-known. Rhetoric is concerned with the thing as-it-is-communicated.[4]
John Ayto wrote in the Dictionary of Word Origins (1990) that study of the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) was requisite preparation for study of the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy). For the medieval student, the trivium was the curricular beginning of the acquisition of the seven liberal arts; as such, it was the principal undergraduate course of study. The wordtrivial arose from the contrast between the simpler trivium and the more difficult quadrivium.[5]
Quadrivium
The quadrivium consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These followed the preparatory work of the trivium, consisting of grammar, logic, and rhetoric. In turn, the quadrivium was considered preparatory work for the study of philosophy (sometimes called the “liberal art par excellence”)[5] and theology.
These four studies compose the secondary part of the curriculum outlined by Plato in The Republic and are described in the seventh book of that work (in the order Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, Music). [4] The quadrivium is implicit in early Pythagorean writings and in the De nuptiis of Martianus Capella, although the term quadrivium was not used until Boethius, early in the sixth century.[6] As Proclus wrote:
The Pythagoreans considered all mathematical science to be divided into four parts: one half they marked off as concerned with quantity, the other half with magnitude; and each of these they posited as twofold. A quantity can be considered in regard to its character by itself or in its relation to another quantity, magnitudes as either stationary or in motion. Arithmetic, then, studies quantities as such, music the relations between quantities, geometry magnitude at rest, spherics [astronomy] magnitude inherently moving.[7]
Medieval usage
At many medieval universities, this would have been the course leading to the degree of Master of Arts (after the BA). After the MA, the student could enter for bachelor’s degrees of the higher faculties (Theology, Medicine or Law). To this day, some of the postgraduate degree courses lead to the degree of Bachelor (the B.Phil and B.Litt. degrees are examples in the field of philosophy).
The study was eclectic, approaching the philosophical objectives sought by considering it from each aspect of the quadrivium within the general structure demonstrated by Proclus (AD 412–485), namely arithmetic and music on the one hand[8] and geometry and cosmology on the other.[9]
The subject of music within the quadrivium was originally the classical subject of harmonics, in particular the study of the proportions between the musical intervals created by the division of a monochord. A relationship to music as actually practised was not part of this study, but the framework of classical harmonics would substantially influence the content and structure of music theory as practised in both European and Islamic cultures.
Modern usage
In modern applications of the liberal arts as curriculum in colleges or universities, the quadrivium may be considered to be the study of number and its relationship to space or time: arithmetic was pure number, geometry was number in space, music was number in time, and astronomy was number in space and time. Morris Kline classified the four elements of the quadrivium as pure (arithmetic), stationary (geometry), moving (astronomy), and applied (music) number.[10]
“Today’s conflicts between the views that the humanities hold of science and engineering and the views science and engineering hold of the humanities weaken the very core of our culture. their cause is lack of integration in today’s education among subjects that hark back to the medieval trivium and quadrivium. a new trivium is needed to provide every educated person with a basic understanding of the endeavors and instruments that help us address our world and shape a new morality – the humanities, in the noblest sense of the word, to civilize, science to understand nature, and engineering, broadly defined, to encompass the kindred activities that modify nature. integration of these endeavors is urgent. it involves, in turn, an intimate interaction (the ‘biosoma’) of biological organisms, society, and machines – a new quadrivium. no domain can any longer be considered and learned in isolation.”
Etzkowitz, H., Ranga, M., & Dzisah, J.. (2012). Whither the university? The Novum Trivium and the transition from industrial to knowledge society. Social Science Information
“Beyond the bologna process key objective of achieving a common structure of the european tertiary educational format is the fundamental issue of the changing content of higher education. the highly specialized curricula of the industrial society no longer fully meet the needs of an emerging knowledge society that requires citizens with entrepreneurial and inter-cultural capabilities to innovate and respond to change in an increasingly inter-connected world. in this article we propose an innovative approach to undergraduate education called the novum trivium, comprised of (i) academic specialization, (ii) innovation and entrepreneurship, and (iii) a language and culture in addition to one’s own, as a new higher-education paradigm for the knowledge society. this vision of undergraduate education aims to contribute to the realization of the bologna process objective of better integrating education, research and innovation. the novum trivium brings together three diverse, yet complementary, educational skill sets, in a modern version of the tripos degree introduced by cambridge university in the 17th century as an honours degree in mathematics that eventually became a format that encompassed three closely related disciplines such as politics, philosophy and economics. the novum trivium is also inspired by the medieval trivium of grammar, rhetoric and dialectics (logic), the essential elements of education for all.”
