meta - 1.‘Ethical terms are meaningless’, Discuss

Question 1

intro

Answer 1

• Ethical statements are meaningless when considered from an emotivist view
• From an intuitionist and naturalistic view ethical statements are meaningful
• Ethical terms are meaningful

Question 2

paragraph 1

Answer 2

• Emotivism – A.J. Ayer principle
• A statement is meaningful if it is an analytic statement or a synthetic statement
• Ethical statements are not obviously logical or can be proven so are therefore meaningless
• They are just emotions
• Boo-hurrah theory
• NOT SUCCESSFUL just because they are meaningless does not mean that this make the argument redundant these emotions must be derived from somewhere and therefore hold meaning
• Just because they are an emotional response does not mean that they are meaning less

Question 3

paragraph 2

Answer 3

• More successful view is a naturalistic view
• Moral values can be defined in terms of natural properties and can be observed so are true or false
• IT IS SUCCESSFUL there is a widespread agreement on what is good and bad with similar standards between cultures and societies
• Demonstrates that human societies when faced with similar issues have responded with similar feelings and attitudes

Question 4

paragraph 3

Answer 4

• Intuitionism
• Also considers it to be an emotional response that you just know
• ‘Goodness’ is undefinable – it is like the colour yellow (Moore)
• SUCCESSFUL recognises that there is a considerable moral agreement across the world regardless of cultural differences
• It establishes moral facts and ensure that right and wrong are not just taste or opinion as emotivism says they are

Question 5

conclusion

Answer 5

• Ethical terms are meaningful

- Seen through the use of both intuitionism and naturalism