Ethics Exam 1 Flashcards
Distinction between Metaethics and Normative Ethics
A Metaethical question is a question about the meaning of ethical language referring to the
description of the action about the subject matter. For example, what does it mean to say something is good or bad? What do words like “good”, “bad”, “right”, and “wrong” mean? A normative Ethics question is a question that presupposes an understanding of ethical terms and asks for example what things are good/bad, and what actions are right/wrong.
If someone says when thinking about the example of Robin Hood that sometimes stealing could be morally justified in special circumstances, that person is most likely expressing the theory of ______.
moderate ethical objectivism
Cognitive vs noncognitive
Cognitive- Moral statements can be true or false
Noncognitive- Moral statements neither true nor false (“Don’t kill”)
Descriptivism
Moral statements describe some aspect of the universe and, as such, are either true or false
Prescriptivism
The function of ethical statements is not to design but rather to prescribe, much the way that imperatives function in language to prescribe. They think that imperatives are neither ture nor false, so ethical statements are neither true nor false.
Emotivism
Denies that ethical statements describe, however, models the kind of meaning that ethical statements have on interjections like (Hurray! Or “Terrific”).
Moderate objectivism
Moral statements are either true or false and in describing something X as having value, one is not describing only some fact about one’s attitudes toward or beliefs about X. Moderate objectivism is a philosophy that adheres to the natural law, but allows for some exceptions in cases of moral conflict.
Extreme Objectivism
Moral statements are either true or false and in describing something X as having value, one is not describing anyone’s attitudes towards or beliefs about X. Extreme objectivism, or strong objectivity, is the idea that beliefs formed under ideal conditions are always true.
