 Finally, the conclusion comes in different strengths. Traditional non-cognitivists believe that moral judgments simply are non-cognitive states. But what kind of states? They are clearly not mere desires, since we can desire things we don’t regard as desirable. Early non-cognitivists talked about a special ‘ethical feeling’ (Ayer 1936), identified in phenomenological terms. But there doesn’t seem to be any common phenomenological character to all the various moral thoughts we have. So contemporary non-cognitivists appeal to the functional role of moral attitudes instead, to their distinctive part in our overall psychology. Blackburn’s (1998) idea is that moral thoughts involve higher-order attitudes towards desires and preferences. When I morally disapprove of polluting the environment, I don’t just desire not to pollute -- I also applaud others who are averse to it and dislike those who fail to share my desire (Blackburn 2002: 125). When I morally disapprove of something, I also have these higher-order attitudes towards my own attitudes: I prefer not to prefer what I disapprove of, which explains a defeasible link to motivation.