7. Meta Ethics Flashcards
Naturalism
Cognitivism definition
Ethical sentences express propositions and can therefore be true or false.
Naturalism
Non-cognitivism defintion
Ethical sentences do not express propositions and thus cannot be true or false.
Naturalism
Naturalism definition
Moral terms can be understood by analysis of the natural world.
Naturalism
Cognativist or non-cognativist?
Cognativist
Naturalism
F.H Bradley dates
1846-1924
Naturalism
F.H Bradley key quote
“Starting from and on the basis of animal nature, humanity has worked it out by gradual advances of specification and systemisation.”
Naturalism
F.H. Bradley - Social Naturalism
- People socialise their children according to how evolved society is (inheritence).
- One distinctive thing that society passes on, gives each person “station and its duties”
- Such morality is relaive as its derived from a specific place and time = progressive.
Naturalism
F.H. Bradley key ideas
- Objective features of the world makes propositions true or false.
- Verified moral statements are objective and universal.
- Moral language rests on propositions.
Naturalism
David Hume, who + dates
Scottish philosopher, 1711-76
Naturalism
David Hume - Matters of fact
Synthetic truths, contingently true, can only be known through a posterori, without certaintly.
* we are born in total ignorance.
* “Tabula rase” = no understanding
* “nothing is in the interlect that was not first in the senses.”
Naturalism
David Hume - Relation of ideas
Analytic truths, necessarily true, apriori (deductively) with certainty.
e.g. 2+2=4, don’t need experiments with objects to prove it
Naturalism
Strength - Philipa Foot
Moral evil is natural defect “The fact an action or disposition is good of a kind.”
Naturalism
Others strengths
- Explains social character of morality but still allows for indivudual self-realisation.
- Moral person has qualities as to why they carry out certain actions - can be observed.
- Moral judgements say something about the action of any individual - main reason to do or not, whether or not he recorgnised that.
Naturalism
Criticism - Humes fork/is-ought gap
- That which ‘is’ is not the same as that which ‘ought’ to be.
- One’s societally-defined duty and what is morally ‘good’ are not automatically the same thing.
- e.g. because human nature finds pleasure good, doesnt mean good = pleasure.
Naturalism
Criticism - GE Moore
Naturalistic fallacy
* Its an error to assume that something natural means that its good.
* Doesn’t mean pleasures good.
Naturalism
Criticism - others
- Works in a society with fixed narrow societal expectations + etiquette recommends passive acceptance of status quo.
- Morally corrupt societies - how can an individual become ethical and reduce themselves in one.
- doesn’t offer a moral transformation.
Intuitionism
Cognativist or non-cognativist
Cognativist
Intuitionism
A.J. Pritchard dates
1871-1947
Intuitionism
A.J. Pritchard key ideas
- claims ‘ought’ cannot be defined in a moral sense but we recorgnise its properties.
- everyone recorgnises when we ought to do a certain obligation.
- if conflicted in moral obligations - says to look at situation as decide which is greater.
- recorgnises problem that people have diferent morals = some have more developed moral thinking ~ doesn’t explain why.
Intuitionism
A.J. Pritchard - 2 types of thinking
- reason = looks at facts of situation.
- intuition = decides what to do.
e.g. euthanasia
Intuitionism
G.E. Moore dates
1873-1958
Intuitionism
G.E. Moore - key ideas
- Criticised naturalism, instead we have infallible intuitive knowledge of good (don’t need to observe murder to know its wrong)
- argues moral judgements cannot be proved empirically, can’t observe pleasure and conclude = good.
Intuitionism
W.D. Ross - dates and key ideas
1877-1971
* accepted Moore and added that in any situation, moral duties or obligations become apparent = “prima facie duties” e.g. gratitude, justice, promises.
* have a moral obligation to keep them.
Intuitionism
G.E. Moore - open question arguement
if you define good = pleasure, this is wrong as not all pleasure is good.
Therefore if good = pleasure - its been reduced
e.g. pleasure from poisening the water system, utilitarianism = wrong.
Intuitionism
G.E. Moore - Simple vs Complex
e.g. yellow cannot be broken down more, whereas horse = its characteristics.
∴ good = simple as its undefinable and unanalysable concept, cannot be brokwn down any further.
Intuitionism
Strengths
- Self interested duties, if identified can be excluded as non-moral.
- moreal facts can exist objectively, you can be wrong about morality in the same way you can be wrong about maths - both are objective not queer - not in empirically verifiable way.
- True intuition always exists, go with strongest one, face to face with situation, out thinking may have become ‘infected’
Intuitionism
Criticisms/Weaknesses - J.L. Mackie
- metaphysical = how could such moral qualities exist, too objective.
- epistemology = what special ability would we have to have to detect moraility, brain sensor?
- motivational = even if we could detect good, why would it motivate us to do anything, if it does - only because somethings been added.
Intuitionism
Weaknesses - others
- Without any standards of moral duties, only intuitions, people would still be very confused about what was right to do - differ widely to develop correct ones.
- No way to resolve moral conflicts, Moore says intuitions are basis and should not be doubted, but how do we know who has right intuitions.
Emotivism
Cognitivist or non-cognitivist
Non
Emotivism
Emotivism
Claims when we use ethical language, we are just expressing our emotions
Emotivism
Logical positivism
applying science to question of meaning, only valid meaningful language is that which is empirically verifiable.
Emotivism
Verification principle
- from logical positivism
- = statement only meaningful if its analytic or empirically verifiable.
Emotivism
A.J. Ayer dates
1910-1989
Emotivism
A.J. Ayer - boo/hurrah theory
= expression of opinion.
muder is wrong = “boo”
Emotivism
A.J. Ayer - key ideas
- Influenced by Hume
- emotional outburts cannot be true or false as they are not claims about reality.
- so ethical language cannot be analytic or synthetic = meaningless.
Emotivism
C.L. Stevenson - key ideas
- added to Ayer
- language - 2 principle uses = descriptive and dynamic.
- when we make moral statements, we aren’t only expressing emotional response but also trying to pursuade others to have the same response.
Emotivism
Strengths
- using emotional language is effective in changing attitudes of others.
- still have worth even if not verifiable.
- people make decisions based on emotions anyway, describes workings of the world accurately.
Emotivism
Weakness - R.M. Hare
- We are too complex to reduce morality to this - against reductionism.
- too simplistic.
- morality involves use of reason, cannot accept terrible acts.
- e.g. holocaust reduced to “i believe killing is wrong”
Emotivism
Weakness - James Rachels
Removal of reason
* Wrong of Ayer to make connection between ‘ouch’ response when stubbing a toe and ‘thats wrong’ response when you see details of muder on the news.
* if they lack reason, they become arbitrary.
Emotivism
Weakness - Peter Vardy
its a moral ‘non-theory’ because its not an ethical theory in the classical sense.
Emotivism
Weakness - MacIntyre
- Misconcieved theory of ethics, doctrine obscured modern life which is characteristed by social emotivism in which alll judgements are expressions of opinion.
- Stops us from seeing importance of human qualities, causes others “are always means, never ends” in themselves.
Emotivism
Weaknesses - others
- Morality is meaningless = 9/11
- If all morality is emotions, who’s should we follow.
- Undermines all ethical theories that say right and wrong are derived from reason/logic.
