Hume's law

A name for the contested view that it is impossible to derive an ‘ought’ from an ‘is’, or in other words, that there is no logical bridge over the gap between fact and value. Hume's own statement is in the Treatise of Human Nature, iii. 1. 1, where he wrote that it seems ‘altogether inconceivable that this new relation [ought] can be derived from others, which are entirely different from it’. The ‘law’ in fact appears as something of an afterthought to other discussion.

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Is-ought problem. (Discuss)

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into David Hume. (Discuss)

In meta-ethics, Hume's Law says that normative statements cannot be deduced exclusively from descriptive statements. This was proposed by David Hume in his work A Treatise of Human Nature (III, i. §1).

See also

• Is-ought problem

References

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: "Hume's Moral Philosophy: Is and Ought"

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