‘What you did was to draw a conclusion from a descriptive sentence – “That person wants to live too” – to what we call a normative sentence: “Therefore you ought not to kill them.” From the point of view of reason this is nonsense. You might just as well say “There are lots of people who cheat on their taxes, therefore I ought to cheat on my taxes too.” Hume said you can never draw conclusions from is sentences to ought sentences. Nevertheless it is exceedingly common, not least in newspaper articles, political party programs, and speeches. Would you like some examples?’
hume
