Meta Ethics Flashcards
What is the question that meta-ethics asks? and an example
It asks what do we mean by right and wrong and how can mora statements be justified.
-An example is emotivism
The Branches of Meta-Ethics
What is the main idea that Bentham put forward in Utilitarianism
(Naturalism)
Bentham’s utilitarianism starts from the observation that human lives focus on maximising pleasure and minimising pain. This then is what should direct all human moral decision-making and behaviour.
• The sole intrinsic good is happiness, which Bentham understood in terms of pleasure.
• All human action should be aimed for Eudaemonia
• To seek the greatest good for the greatest number(Trolly problem)
• To facilitate this, Bentham devised the hedonic calculus (Method by Bentham, assesses a proposed action whether pleasure would be maximised)
• The is purely quantitative.
• B thought pain could be measured
•No differentiation in types of pleasure (pleasure of each individual is equal)
•B’s focuses on actions not moral rules
“….. pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do”
Explain J.S Mill’s Utilitarianism
•like Bentham’s version Mill’s is consequential (based on consequences). However, they have differences.
•Mill did not agree that all pleasures are equal and can be measured.
~Quality of life > Amount of pleasure (Long oyster sad, short happy human life)
~Distinguish between higher pleasures (Intellectual and aesthetic) And lower pleasures (Physical)
•Mill = Rule > Act
•Moral rules in his view developed because they were seen to result in the biggest benefits to society.
“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied”
Strengths and Weaknesses of Ethical Naturalism
STRENGTHS -
•The factual and empirical nature of the propositions
•The objective nature of right/wrong enables us to asses our actions
•Many of these theories give helpful guidance and rules, rule breaker = justified punishment
WEAKNESSES~
•G.E.Moore accused naturalist theories of committing the naturalistic fallacy (facts to moral claims-is ought problem)
•Good is undefinable everyone has their own idea of good e.g defining yellow
•Ethical non-cognitivists rejects moral statements and ethical judgements
•Morality consists of subjective statements of approval
• Morality =subjective personal preference then there can be no moral rules
Test yourself Questions (Ethical Naturalism)
-According to Bentham what on what do humans focus their lives?
-What is the greatest happiness principle?
-Explain the differences in assessment of pleasure between Bentham and Mill
-What is meant by Act Utilitarianism?
What is Naturalistic fallacy?
The claim by philosophers such as David Hume and G.E Moore that it is a fallacy to argue from facts to moral claims. ‘ought’ cannot be derived as ‘is’.
What is neo-naturalism?
A new form of ethical naturalism which argues that oral it does have factual content; ‘good’ is that which leads to the flourishing of human beings or the flourishing of other whole environments
What is G.E. Moore’s intuitionisms? (Non- Naturalism)
-Says that ‘good’ is an irreducible term, nevertheless it can be recognised and understood.
-He compared it to the colour ‘yellow’ to explain it further. We cannot break this down to explain it further, yet once yellow objects are pointed out to us we can understand what it is.
-Human knowledge of right and wrong comes not through logical deductions from the world around us and human experience but through our fundamental moral intuitions
-Our moral sense tells us that something is right/wrong.
What is Non-Naturalism?
This type of theory like naturalism is cognitive
-It claims that moral values are based on facts and so are open to objective assessment of their truth or falsehood.
-Intuitionisms is a form of secular ethics and DCT is a form of religous ethics
What is Secular Ethics?
The approach that argues that ethical theories and actions are based on human faculties such as logic and reason, and not on religious values or commands given by God.
The Prima Facie Duties of W.D. Ross
One problem with Moore’s theory is that people disagree about what is right and wrong.
~Their intuitions seem to point them in different directions
~Ross accepted it that in some situations there might be conflicting duties and that it might not always be obvious which should take priority
(six prima facie duties) :
-Keeping promises
-Paying back harm done to others
-Not injuring others
-Returning favours and services that others have given us
-Not harming innocent people
-Looking after parents
-Ross claimed that intuitionism is how they choose between conflicting duties and if there isn’t any conflict, then practice them to absolute
Strengths and Weaknesses of intuitionism as a non-naturalist theory
Strengths:
-The objective nature of right/wrong enables us to assess our actions and gives us guidelines, particularly with the prima face duties of Ross.
-It fits in with the universal experience of having moral intuitions about something, for instance most people’s intuitive sense that while murder is wrong, killing someone in self-defence or in war is
Weaknesses:
-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?
Divine Command Theory (non-naturalism)
DCT is a cognitive theory that claims that there is an objective right and wrong that can be shown to be true or false
-Claims that moral command come from God, so unlike intuitionism it’s a form of RELIGIOUS ETHICS
.
• Humans are created in the image of God.
O This means that in some way they reflect the moral character of God.
O However, their nature has been totally corrupted by the Fall, so they are wholly reliant on God’s grace to have any understanding of what is right and wrong.
• Such understanding comes in two ways:
- Primarily through special revelation, i.e. through Scripture, which is or contains the infallible word of God.
• Also through conscience, which is the voice of God speaking directly to humans in prayer and enabling them to interpret the commands of Scripture in relation to modern issues.
•The bible has ultimate authority and must be obeyed. (key commands are found in the 10 commandments)
•in the twentieth century, Karl Barth claimed that humanity’s obedience to God was the answer to all ethical questions (not dismissing secular ethics)
