A Brentanian Argument Against Value Realism

Value Realists are committed to the view that value statements such as ‘A is intrinsically good’ are (a) truth-assessable propositions and (b) true only if A actually instantiates the intrinsic property of goodness. My paper contrasts two critical reactions toward value realism, namely: that of emotivists such as Carnap, who argue that value statements are *pseudo-propositions* and reject (a), and that of Brentano and the Brentanians, who accept (a) but argue that value predicates are *pseudo-predicates* and reject (b).