From Hume's Guillotine to the Moral Landscape

The Prompt

Trace the history of the is-ought problem from Hume's original observation in A Treatise of Human Nature (1739) through Moore's naturalistic fallacy, the logical positivists' fact-value distinction (Ayer), Philippa Foot's challenge, Hilary Putnam's critique, and Sam Harris's attempted bridge. For each thinker, explain what they contributed and why the gap remains unbridged.

Completion Criteria

A historical narrative covering at least five thinkers (Hume, Moore, Ayer, Putnam, Harris), with accurate dates and works, showing each contribution and its limitations, concluding with an assessment of the problem's current status.

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