The Seamless Web of Fact and Value: The Putnams’ View

Contrary to an age-old belief, in this chapter, I will argue against the existence of a sharp distinction between judgments involving values and judgments regarding facts. I will do so, first, by recalling how the dichotomy between value judgments and factual judgments has managed to sediment in our culture, second, by drawing attention to the serious drawbacks of supporting this dichotomy, and third, by giving an account of the main arguments that an important philosophical couple has deployed to counter the belief in the dichotomy: Ruth Anna and Hilary Putnam.