Intuitionism Flashcards
G.E Moore and naturalistic fallacy
Naturalistic fallacy when ‘a philosopher attempts to prove a claim about ethics through appealing to a definition of the term “good” by using a natural property such as pleasure’
Disagrees with naturalism as there’s nothing intrinsically good about these things as not everyone will agree such things are good therefore open to question- only good if we define them as good e.g. exercise
Main arg of intuitionism
“Good” is undefinable and cannot e compared to positive things that are natural
“Good” is synonymous and self-evident
So human need to fall back on their initial intuition
Morality is intuitive (what feels true without conscious reasoning), simply know something is good due to our intuition, doesn’t mean all moral decisions based on intuition but enables ppl to know basic moral truths so they’re able to make ethical decisions
We work out right and wrong by looking at consequences,if con is rich then its good
(A02: do we acc think of cons in the moment - works in principe not realistically)
Open question argument
Disprove naturalism
When naturalist claims goodness consists of things that leads to pleasure, we can identify one of those things but still ask Q ‘is it good?’ May lead to pleasure but is it in itself intrinsically good e.g. an affair - pleasurable but not intrinsically good
Goodness is independent of humans
Moral judgements can never be empirically proved as dont use scientific obs. To perceive good
‘If i am asked ‘what is good?’ My answer is that good is good and thats the end of the matter’
Types of ideas
2 types:
Simple - ideas that cannot be broken down e.g. yellow
Complex - ideas that can be broken down using other ideas e.g. bachelor
Good is a simple idea as cannot itself be described, only described through associating it with things that we think match the characteristics
Yellow is simple too, when asked to define yellow, give examples of things that are yellow. you either know what is is or dont - same with good, if you dont know what good is then you’re ethically blind similar to being colour blind and you’ll never know what it is- hence why ppl commit crimes
Intuitions are stand alone beliefs,not supported by inference of other beliefs and moral beliefs are self- evident to those who hold them
Intuitionism is form of moral realism: exists independently of humans
Evaluation
STRENGTHS:
Easy and simple to understand - avoids complex ideas - good is undefinable
Appeals to human nature- uses intuition to decide right and wrong
Answers issues clearly and instantly
WEAKNESSES:
Normative ethics: good can be defined
Morality is subjective
Ppls intuitions differ and justifies any action e.g. kill POC because i dont like them
How can we e sure our intuitions are correct?
Lack of empirical evidence
Prima facie duties
H.A Prichard- built on Moores work
Reason collects the facts and intuition determines what course fo action to follow
general thinking - used to assess the facts of the situation
Moral thinking - immediate intuition, diff. Ppl. Have diff. Intuitions about what’s right
W.D. Ross - what’s right is always unique dependent on situation
Never know all acts about the situation- base judgements about right and wrong on intuitions - obvious that certain types of actions are right - prima facie duties
Several duties we feel we instinctively must do
- Keep our promises
- Pay back the harm we do to others
- Not injure others
- Return favours and services given to us by others
- Not harm innocent
- Look after parents
(AO2: are these really intuition, esp 6 - abusive parents)
Prima facie- ‘at first sight if there’s no conflicting circumstances bet. Duties then each duty is absolute but if conflict must balance and consider what to do , should be reasonable and sensible enough to work this out
Will tell us what we ought to do e.g. axe murderer - lie because duty to protect innocent greater than keeping promises
