III. Professor Frankena's rendezvous with the absolute

In his presidential address (American Philosophical Association, Western Division), William Frankena sets himself against the relativist and irrationalist drift of our time in asserting that ‘It is of the essence of a normative judgment to claim that it is justified, rational or valid’, and that fully informed men of reason will ultimately agree about value questions. Applauding the return to reason, this note finds a need for further clarification on the definition of normative terms, the justification of normative judgments, the basis of obligation to be rational, and on the promise of agreement among men of reason in axiology.