From Is To Ought
Written by Studio AM.
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In A Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume noticed a shift in moral arguments. Writers would describe how things are, then suddenly state what people ought to do. They did not explain how the obligation followed from the description. Hume's objection concerned that missing reasoning, not simply the presence of an unfamiliar word.
The distinction is between a description and a prescription. A description reports how things stand; a prescription says what should be done. Consider the claim: a food is natural, therefore you ought to eat it. The conclusion needs an additional premise, such as the rule that you ought to eat whatever is natural. Once stated, that rule can be examined and challenged. The fact about the food alone does not supply it.
Asking for the missing premise makes a dispute clearer. People might agree about a situation yet disagree about which principle should guide their response. Naming that principle does not settle whether it is sound, but it gives them a claim they can discuss directly.
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Questions
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Question 1 of 4
What is the passage mainly arguing?
The answer is B: An argument from facts to what should be done needs a connecting principle that can be examined.
The passage asks how a moral conclusion follows from a description and uses an explicit premise to reveal the missing connection.
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Question 2 of 4
What was Hume's complaint?
The answer is C: That writers moved from descriptions to obligations without explaining the connection.
The first paragraph identifies the missing explanation of how an obligation follows.
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Question 3 of 4
Why does stating the added rule help in the food example?
The answer is D: It exposes the assumption that being natural is enough to justify eating it.
Making the rule explicit lets readers examine whether naturalness alone supports the recommendation.
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Question 4 of 4
What does “prescription” mean in this passage?
The answer is A: a statement about what should be done.
It is set against description: a description says how things stand, a prescription says what to do.
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