# The is–ought problem

- kind: problem
- status: open
- year: 1739
- authors: David Hume

**Statement.** Can conclusions about what ought to be done be derived from facts about what is?

Hume observed that arguments slide from 'is' to 'ought' without justifying the step. Naturalists try to ground ethics in facts about well-being; others hold that values are a separate category. Aligning AI systems has made the question practical, because it requires writing down what systems ought to do.

Posed 1739, David Hume.

## Related problems

- The original curation links this problem to [AI alignment](/wiki/Problem:ai-alignment.md); the argument for the link has not been written yet.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Is–ought problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem)

[Value and reason](/wiki/Space:value.md) · [Philosophy](/wiki/Continent:philosophy.md)

## Relations

- related to [ai-alignment](/wiki/Problem:ai-alignment.md) — The original curation links this problem to AI alignment; the argument for the link has not been written yet.

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