ethical naturalism

Question 1

ethical naturalism

Answer 1

• meta ethical view that morality is defined by facts of nature/human nature
• moral values are an objective part of furniture of the universe
• naturalist ehtical theories are realist
• if you can look at the world & people’s behaviour and deduce right from wrong then you’re an ethical naturalist
• a utilitarian will see the good in pleasure & pain, happiness & misery where what we ought to do brings the most happiness for most amount of people
• a virute ethicist like aristotle will see good in facts of eudaimonia & a modern one like hursthouse may see good in facts about environment as whole
• naturalist theories often talk of intrinsic good meaning value that something has in itself is self evident
• main rules are do most loving thing/which comply with such rules/have correct character traits
• an ethical naturalist will argue there’s ethical facts about world otherwise we have no real justification for our actions

Question 2

utilitarianism - jeremy bentham

Answer 2

• ‘nature placed mankind under governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure’
• identifies pain and pleasure as not only determining what in fact motivates 7 directs our lives but what we ought to do
• argues a natural feature of life determines both descriptive and normative ethics
• pain and pleasure rule us - we observe their relationship with action as matter of cause and effect
• morality linked to observation and experience - very essence of ethical naturalism
• for betham, pleasure is one intrinsic good & pain is one intrinsic evil
• we seek to maximise pleasure/minimise pain & if we ask why betham would point to reality of pain & pleasure in our lives
• calculate it with hedonic calculas
• pain and pleasure rule our lives

Question 3

utilitarianism - john stuart mill

Answer 3

• called rule utilitarian as suggested moral rules should be followed excpt where they conflict & then should follow ‘primary principle’ of utility
• rejects bentham’s view that all pleasures are equal/measurable & insisted there’s higher cultural & intellectual pleasures
• described happiness in terms of quality of life than quantity of pleasure
• for him, utilitarian is all about a fair & just distribution of natural benefits
• argued moral rules developed naturally as found not stealing had beneficial effects on society so [rinciples were justified as produce balance of pleasure ovr pean
• so moral rules based on behaviour benefitting society

Question 4

strengths of ethical naturalism

Answer 4

• ethical propositions true because they’re factual
• ethical propositions can give use solid guidelines and rules to follow as with rule utilitarianism
• can be judged by our compliance with the rules as if we break them then gives us justification for punishing offenders

Question 5

weakness of ethical naturalism -opposition from emotivists

Answer 5

• claim that ethical propositions are factual doesn’t impress ethical non-cognitivists who argue they aren’t factual
• ayer argues statements can’t be veriefied or falsified as meaningless
• ‘murder is wrong for example’ can’t be falsified/verified as those who disapprove of murder will accept the claim but those who disapprove of it will reject the claim & no way this dispute can be solved by appealing to facts
• for emotivists morality is subjective & an internal feeling with rules being a matter of convention

Question 6

weakness of ethical naturalism - naturalistic fallacy

Answer 6

• created by moore & said it was mistake to try & define concept good in terms of natural property
• if moore is right rhere’s problem with utilitarianism which says pleasure is good so we ought to seek pleasure
• moore argued it is not possible to derive and ought from an is
• e.g ‘she is old and lonely’ and from this can get ‘you ought to help her’ OR ‘you ought to euthanize her’
• but if ethical naturalism righ & ethical values are facts then we shouldn’t get two different oughts
• therefore naturalism fails

Question 7

strength of utlitarianism

Answer 7

• gives factual basis for morality
• utilitarians have guidlines/rules e.g bethams hedonic calculus
• practical system & uk politics broadly utilitarian in character

Question 8

weakness of utliitarianism

Answer 8

• happiness varies between people so impossible to define as some derive pleasure from inflicting pain which can hardly be good for majority
• requires us to second guess future but fact is we can never be sure of consequences of our actions as any decision we make may turn out to maximise pain rather than pleasure