In this paper I want to suggest a possible reading of the recent debate on the analogy between secondary qualities and values. I maintain that the first important effort in using such analogy has been made by John Mackie. His study has influenced all other different attempts to use this analogy. In particular, I examine the dispositional theory of John McDowell and the projectivist theory of Simon Blackburn. Finally I suggest that, although both succeed in facing the sceptical consequences of Mackie’s error theory, the projectivist line seems to be better positioned to explain the variety of features of our moral experience.
