Ethical language

Question 1

What does Meta-ethics deal with?

Answer 1

Discerning what “good” is.

Question 2

What is the difference between moral realism and moral subjectivism?

Answer 2

Moral realism believes there are objective moral facts, moral subjectivism does not.

Question 3

What does Matthew Krammer say about morality and objectivity?

Answer 3

“Most of the reasons for insisting on the objectivity of ethics are ethical reasons.”

Question 4

What do Ethical Naturalists, such as F.H. Bradley, argue?

Answer 4

Morality is objective and can be observed through nature and society.

Question 5

In what book does G.E. Moore describe the naturalistic fallacy?

Answer 5

Principia Ethica

Question 6

What is the naturalistic fallacy?

Answer 6

The idea that a descriptive statement can not be used interchangeably for prescriptive one and vice versa.

Question 7

Describe Moore’s Open ended question and how it it describes the naturalistic fallacy.

Answer 7

The statement “Anything that brings X is good” leads to the question “ is X good?”, however is not always yes as it can vary on the subject or even the context, demonstrating that good is not akin to natural properties.

Question 8

How does Hume demonstrate naturalistic fallacy?

Answer 8

Through the “Is ought”/ “Hume’s fork” argument.

Question 9

What is the the “Is ought”/ “Hume’s fork” argument?

Answer 9

Is to ought- No moral knowledge is can be learned from an “is” statement. An Is statement is merely a factual one, void of opinion.

Ought to is- Ought statements are opinions and thus require justification and therefore there is no moral obligation to follow them.

Question 10

How does G.E. Moore attempt to address the naturalistic fallacy?

Answer 10

Through intuitionism.

Question 11

What does G.E. Moore say about good?

Answer 11

“Good is good, and that is the end of the matter”

Question 12

What is intuitionism?

Answer 12

An attempt to address naturalist fallacy while maintain moral Realism. It argues that we can understand what is good through intuition.

Question 13

What does Paul Tillich say about good?

Answer 13

“the only way of using the term good in a meaningful way is to use it as a symbol for higher meaning.”

Question 14

How does W.D. Ross develop intuitionism?

Answer 14

Through establishing 7 Prima facie duties.

Question 15

What other ethical approaches does Inuitionism parallel and why?

Answer 15

Intuitionism parallels Kantian deontology as they both hold the idea that moral truths can be learnt through induction.

Question 16

What are the strengths of intuitionism?

Answer 16

1) As moral realist theory, it appeals to absolutists offering strict moral duties.
2) Intuitionism can be used as evidence of the soul’s existence and it’s role as a moral guide.
3) Allows for an objective morality without failing naturalistic fallacy.

Question 17

How does W.D Ross counter the idea that intuitionism fails as it does not address how people draw different conclusions about the validity of certain ethical claims?

Answer 17

Prima facie duties allow for the introduction of moral obligations that can be prioritized based on context.

Question 18

What would empiricists say in regards to intuitionism.

Answer 18

It is meaningless due to the fact it can not be verified or falsified.

Question 19

How can morality be described to be “truth apt” by moral relativists?

Answer 19

Truth apt is the idea that ethical statements can not be said to be true or false, this is because there is no objective morality to draw these conclusions from.

Question 20

What type of argument is emotivism and where does draw it’s ideas from?

Answer 20

It is a moral subjectivist argument and draws its ideas from Wittgenstein’s language game approach.

Question 21

Why would Logical positivists such as Ayer and Wittgenstein say ethical language is meaningless.

Answer 21

It is subjective and can not offer any insight to the empirical world as the statements are neither analytic or synthetic?

Question 22

What did Ayer say about ethical language?

Answer 22

That it is just “ejaculations or commands used to provoke an action of some sort.”

Question 23

What is Ayer’s development of emotivism’s “Hurrah/boo theory”?

Answer 23

The idea that when an ethical statement says something is “good” or bad, it is merely the user saying whether they have a positive or negative opinion of it.

Question 24

How does Alistair Macintyre add to Hurrah/boo theory?

Answer 24

He describes morals as “nothing but expressions of preference.”

Question 25

How can C.L. Stevenson be seen to be a developer of Hurrah/boo theory?

Answer 25

He argues that ethical statements are more than just expressions of preference but actively try and convince the listener.

Question 26

What does R. Braithwaite say about religions function?

Answer 26

That it has a non-cognitive purpose that helps bind communities.

Question 27

What does R.M. Hare’s prescriptive approach say about ethical language?

Answer 27

Ethical statements have meaning in that they demonstrate how the user believes everyone should act.

Question 28

What are the strengths of emotivism?

Answer 28

1) Highlights why morality is had resolve decisively.

2) Allows for pluralism of ideas and moral values.

Question 29

What are the weaknesses of emotivism?

Answer 29

1) It ignores the fact that ethical statements are not judged by the reaction they cause but by their topic and content.
2) Ethical statements are not linked with emotions, because if they were, an individual’s morality would changed depending on their mood.