The philosophical background of Hume's theory of justice

Abstract

Epistemological status of moral judgment, or the question concerning the existence of moral values, has been and still is one of the biggest issues in metaethics.
Some ( especially called ‘Humean’ ) insist that the values, including moral values, are really products of ’attitudes’ projected into the world, and others argue that they are independent of the activity of the subject’s mind. We find Hume’s phrases often referred to in this sort of disputes. But the fact that many philosophers are getting inspiration from Hume does not always mean that they, both Humeans and anti-Humeans, correctly understand what Hume intended to claim. This paper tries to reply some of the serious problems appearing in the controversy by showing that it is proper from Hume's standpoint to assume the morality located in the external world.