I could either support such a norm, or not support it. I would *treat it as wrong” (two-place word) iff I didn’t support it. I would only call it “wrong” period, as shorthand for “wrong according to me and I’m treating it as wrong”, if it was clear from the context what person or group I was referring to that held it to be wrong.
In other words:
Saying people believe something is “wrong” means they condemn or punish it, and support others doing so. For almost any act there’s someone who doesn’t agree it’s wrong. Saying “it’s wrong” is shorthand for “I think it’s wrong”, and/or “most everyone thinks it wrong”, and (given game theory and human cognition) “I think others should think it’s wrong, and will try to convince them and to punish those who don’t punish defectors, etc”. A group of people who think it’s wrong (including myself) is always implied.
I could either support such a norm, or not support it. I would *treat it as wrong” (two-place word) iff I didn’t support it. I would only call it “wrong” period, as shorthand for “wrong according to me and I’m treating it as wrong”, if it was clear from the context what person or group I was referring to that held it to be wrong.
This is what is normally meant by calling something “subjective”.
It’s subjective in the sense that when two people disagree about morals, there is no objective truth of the matter that could be determined empirically and settle the dispute, outside any formal ethical system they may use. It’s as subjective as goals and values. Objectively I have goal X, but the goal is mine own, so it’s subjective in that sense.
I could either support such a norm, or not support it. I would *treat it as wrong” (two-place word) iff I didn’t support it. I would only call it “wrong” period, as shorthand for “wrong according to me and I’m treating it as wrong”, if it was clear from the context what person or group I was referring to that held it to be wrong.
In other words:
Saying people believe something is “wrong” means they condemn or punish it, and support others doing so. For almost any act there’s someone who doesn’t agree it’s wrong. Saying “it’s wrong” is shorthand for “I think it’s wrong”, and/or “most everyone thinks it wrong”, and (given game theory and human cognition) “I think others should think it’s wrong, and will try to convince them and to punish those who don’t punish defectors, etc”. A group of people who think it’s wrong (including myself) is always implied.
This is what is normally meant by calling something “subjective”.
It’s subjective in the sense that when two people disagree about morals, there is no objective truth of the matter that could be determined empirically and settle the dispute, outside any formal ethical system they may use. It’s as subjective as goals and values. Objectively I have goal X, but the goal is mine own, so it’s subjective in that sense.
In particular, it’s not objective in the sense that physics or mathematics is.