La funzione dell'etica e la dicotomia fatti/valori

There are two fundamental ways in which the function of ethics can be considered. The former amounts to taking ethics as aimed at discovering general and absolute norms, the latter to taking ethics as dealing with the myriad practical problems we face on a daily basis. If ethics displays its function within the ordinary practice human beings are plunged in, then the rational discussion of envisaged solutions to ethical problems comes to the fore, where discussions of this kind involve a deep scrutiny of moral values and norms with the purpose to arrive at an objective standpoint. However, enlarging rational discussion so that it comes to encompass values shows that the traditional dichotomy between questions of fact and questions of value is misguided. During the last decades a number of authors have been arguing against the dichotomy, chief among them Hilary Putnam. This article tries to follow Putnam’s line of reasoning, highlighting its consequences on the notions of objectivity and rationality.