Intuitionism

Question 1

G.E. Moore

Answer 1

Good is an irreducible term
Cannot be broken down or analysed
Can be recognised and understood
Compared it to the colour yellow as we cannot break it down to explain it further yet once yellow objects have been pointed out to us we understand
Human knowledge of right and wrong comes from our fundamental moral intuitions

Question 2

The prima facie duties of W.D. Ross

Answer 2

One problem with Moore is that people disagree on what is right and wrong
Ross accepted that in some situations there might be conflicting duties and that it might not always be obvious which should take priority
He listed six duties: keeping promises, paying back harm done to others, not injuring others, returning favours, not harming innocent people, looking after parents

Question 3

Strengths of intuitionism

Answer 3

The objective nature of right/wrong enables us to assess our actions and gives us guidelines, particularly with the prima facie duties of Ross.
It overcomes the problem of disagreement among ethical naturalists as to what the underlying basis of right and wrong is, e.g. is it pleasure or agape? It is simply intuition.
It fits in with the universal experience of having moral intuitions about something, for instance most Is it sc people’s intuitive sense that while murder is wrong, killing someone in self-defence or in war is not.

Question 4

Weaknesses

Answer 4

Ethical non-cognitivists reject the basis of moral judgements in fact. Morality consists of subjective statements of approval.
How can we be sure that views on the rightness/ wrongness of something have their basis in some indefinable yet objectively real thing? Is it possible that we are unconsciously influenced by our upbringing or our cultural heritage?
Neo-naturalism could help to resolve the problem of disagreement among naturalists. It could be claimed that happiness, love, etc. are in fact about human flourishing.