Emotivism is also called Non Cognitivism signifying that the theory centers upon the understanding of ethical statements as rational, but rather as a Non Cognitivist or Emotive (Emotional). Emotivism is closely related to Logical Positivism and the Principle of Verification in which advocates contend that religious, moral, and aesthetic statements cannot be verified as "true" and therefore should be regarded as nonsensical. In short meaningful judgments are those which have a method of verification otherwise such judgments are disguised nonsense.
Advocates of Emotivism include A.J. Ayer, Charles Stevenson and Richard Hare. Ayer argued that moral judgments are simply devices to express our attitudes, desires, and emotions about the world. To say something is "good" is not to attribute a property to that item in any sense. Instead, when we say that something is "good" we are expressing our own attitude or sentiment toward that object.
Emotivism has also been called "The Boo/Hurrah Theory". For example, to say that a particular piece of art is "good" is to express an emotional exclamation of "Hurrah" and to say that a particular piece of art is "bad" is to "boo" the object. Stevenson and Hare later refined the movement arguing that such statements are not merely statements, but are intended not only to verbalize ones approval or disapproval. Rather ethical utterances intend to influence the attitudes of others. For example, when I cheer at a football game i aim at influencing others to do the same. Stevenson even went so far as to argue that there is a sense in which ethical language is meaningful and is simply reflective of another domain which requires different terminology. This seems to be reflective also of the later Wittgenstein's understanding of the Language Game.
