Meta-ethics Flashcards
Ethical naturalism
-We can understand moral ideas like ‘good’ and ‘bad’ by observing real-life experiences in the natural world.
-Ethical statements can be proven true or false through empirical observation of real-world consequences.
-Moral truths are objective and universal, regardless of individual perspectives or cultural norms.
NML on goodness
-5 primary precepts guide us to make morally good decisions.
-“Do good and avoid evil” - Aquinas
What is Moore’s Naturalistic Fallacy?
-Can’t define goodness using natural properties in the world like pleasure or desire.
-E.g rape is pleasurable but not morally good.
-Open Question Argument
What is the Open Question Argument?
-Moore
-“Good means pleasurable” but “Is everything pleasurable truly good?”
Moral intuitionism
-Moore
-Goodness is a simple andnindefinable quality.
-Goodness is self-evident.
-Morality is objective and cognitive.
What is non- cognitivism?
Claims moral statements are meaningless becasue they can’t be verified.
What is the Euthyphro dilemma?
-Are moral actions good because God commands them to be so, or does God command them because they are good actions?
What is Mill’s Rule Utilitarianism?
-Goodness is pleasure/happiness
-There are higher and lower pleasures
-Humans should seek the discovery of higher pleasures concerning intellect and culture.
-Agrees with hedonism but argues many moral rules in society have developed naturally because they benefit society.
What is Bentham’s Act Utilitarianism?
-Goodness is pleasure/happiness
-“The greatest happiness of the greatest number” (Bentham).
-All pleasures are equal
-Sometimes called quantitive utilitarianism because it’s about quantifying happiness.
How does Bentham measure pleasure/goodness objectively?
-Hedonic Calculus
-Measures intensity, certainty, duration etc.
-Hedonism = the belief that pleasure is the most important good.
Examples of non-naturalist theories
DCT - argues moral statements about goodness can be cognitive, but they’re not observable in the natural world.
Moore’s intuitionism - argues all humans have intuition and naturally know ‘good’, they don’t need to observe it in the natural world.
-“Good is good and that is the end of the matter” (Moore)
Examples of non-cognitivism
Ayer - verification principle implies that moral statements are meaningless if they are not analytic and can’t be verified.
-Ethical statements are simply “emotional ejactulations” according to Ayer.
What is the Is-Ought Argument?
-Hume
-Just because something ‘is’ in the world, doesn’t mean it ‘ought’ to be.
-E.g just because an action produces pleasure, doesn’t mean it is morally good.
