Facts vs. Opinions: Helping Students Overcome the Distinction

Many students struggle to enter moral debates in a productive way because they automatically think of moral claims as 'just opinions' and not something one could productively argue about. Underlying this response are various versions of a muddled distinction between 'facts' and 'opinions.' This paper outlines a way to help students overcome their use of this distinction, thereby clearing an obstacle to true moral debate. It explains why the factopinion distinction should simply be scrapped, rather than merely sharpened. It then proposes a different distinction well suited to replace it. Finally, it outlines an activity which can he used to teach the new distinction, as well as a number of benefits to attempting the whole replacement process.