1.7 Meta-ethics Flashcards
what are the layers of ethics?
- meta-ethics: the study of ethical concepts, what is good and does it even exist
- normative ethics: considers ethical theories that tell us how we ought to behave
- applied ethics: discusses specific problems in ethics
- descriptive ethics: explores different ethical views that vary across cultures e.g. what do people think is right
what is the linguistic meaning of meta-ethics?
from the Greek ‘meta’ meaning above and beyond
what is ethical naturalism
the idea that moral values can be correctly defined by observation of the natural world
it is a cognitivist, moral realist theory that says moral values can be known empirically
what is moral realism?
the belief that right and wrong actually exist
what is a cognitivist ethical theory
the belief that moral statements are subject to being either true or false
what is Aquinas’ understanding of ethical naturalism?
- theological naturalism
- moral values can be worked out by understanding our God-given purpose and observing the natural order
what is F.H. Bradley’s understanding of ethical naturalism?
- it is possible to understand our moral duties by observing our position in life
- roles such as mother, teacher or nurse reflect duties and moral values
- his view is outdated and reflects Victorian class divisions
what is Bentham and Mill’s understanding of ethical naturalism?
- utilitarian ethical naturalism
- we can discover right and wrong by discovering what actions lead to pleasure and pain
what is the link between naturalism and absolutism?
- they link but are not the same thing
- some forms of naturalism such as Aquinas’ theological naturalism may be absolutist but naturalism itself is not necessarily absolutist
what is intuitionism
- the idea that moral truths are indefinable and self evident
- they cannot be discovered by observing the world
- also a moral realist cognitivist theory
- ethical terms are meaningful
what is Moore’s interpretation of intuitionism?
- he identified the naturalistic fallacy as the key error of naturalism, nothing except good is intrinsically good
- e.g. can you say/prove that pleasure really is good?
- good is self evident through our intuition
- he used the ananlogy with the colour yellow, we just know what yellow is in the same way we just know what goodness is
- he makes a distinction between simple and complex ideas, complex ideas are ones that can be broken down like a horse into its different parts but goodness just is
what is emotivism?
- the idea that moral statements are not statements of fact but are indicators of emotional states
- it is a moral anti-realist, non-cognitivist theory
- ethical statements are meaningless
what is the background to emotivism?
the vienna circle and Hume:
- Hume argued that moral judgements were just feelings or sentiments rather than factual judgements
- also the work of the logical positivists
- the verification principle posits that statements are only meaningful if they are true by definition (analytic statements) of they are synthetic statements that can be verified by the senses
- ethical statements are neither
what is Ayer’s emotivism?
- put forward his weak verification principle, statements are only meaningful if we are able to say how we could hypothetically prove them
- moral statements are neither logical nor proveable by the senses which means they are meaningless
- they are rather emotional states or feelings about an issue that merely convey an approving or disapproving tone
what did Ayer mean by the term ‘evince’
he uses it to explain how ethical terms describe an emotional state. It doesn’t mean exactly the same as an emotional state but rather reflects the fact that we might not actually feel the emotion that our words indicate.
