Meta Ethics

Question 1

Metaethics - definition

Answer 1

The study of the meaning of ethical concepts

Question 2

Normative ethics - definition

Answer 2

Theories of ethics that give advice on how we ought to behave

Question 3

Naturalism - definition

Answer 3

The belief that values can be defined in terms of some natural property in the world

Question 4

Intuitionism - definition

Answer 4

The belief that basic moral truths are indefinable but self-evident

Question 5

Emotivism - definition

Answer 5

The belief that ethical terms evince approval/disapproval

Question 6

Ethical naturalism - Key facts

Answer 6

• Moral realist theory (Believing that moral facts/truths exist)
• Cognitivist (Moral statements are subject to being true/false)
  = Ethical statements are meaningful

Question 7

Theological naturalism

Answer 7

Aquinas; the world has god given order built into it. Morals can be worked out by understanding our God given purpose & observing the natural order

Question 8

Bradley - Naturalism

Answer 8

It is possible to understand our moral duties by observing our position/station in life. This theory is outdated & based in the Victorian class system, but certain modern roles hold moral value, such as teacher, firefighter or parent

Question 9

Hedonism - Naturalism

Answer 9

We can decide what is right/wrong by observing actions that lead to pleasure/pain. Observing someone being in pain after being stabbed lows us to infer that stabbing is wrong

Question 10

Naturalistic fallacy - Definition

Answer 10

Moores term for the alleged fallacy of assuming the good is some natural quality, such as pleasure

Question 11

Weakness of naturalism

Answer 11

Humes ‘is-ought’ problem, when considering the act of murder we can use the word ‘is’, but when discussing the morality of it we must use ‘ought’/‘ought not’ statements

Question 12

Moores intuitionism

Answer 12

• Moore identifies the naturalistic fallacy as a key error of naturalism. For any natural property, it could be asked, ‘is it really good?’
• Goodness is not recognised through empirical facts, it is self evident
• Moore gives the explanation between simple & complex ideas; complex idea (eg a horse) can be broken down into parts, where as simple ideas (eg the colour yellow) cannot be

Question 13

Pros of intuitionism

Answer 13

• takes the ‘is-ought’ challenge seriously
• there is a widespread agreement on moral intentions
• defends the existence of moral facts

Question 14

Cons of intuitionism

Answer 14

• people can have different intuitions on a topic
• there is no clear source of intuition
• the idea of an extra ability beyond the senses is far-fetched

Question 15

Emotivism

Answer 15

• no moral truths; moral statements indicate approval/disapproval
• anti-realist theory (No moral facts)
• Non-cognitivist ( Statements made about right/wrong are not subject to truth/falsity)
  = Ethical statements are meaningless

Question 16

Vienna circle & verification principle

Answer 16

Background in the work of logical positivists
Verification principle suggests that statements are only meaningful if they are;
1. Analytical statements ( True by definition)
2. Synthetic statements (Verified by the senses)

• Hume argued that moral judgements were feelings or sentiments rather than factual judgements

Question 17

Ayers Emotivism

Answer 17

Agreed with the verification principle & argues that it is important to look at what ethical statements are for, rather than ‘meaning’ - we need to look at the use of ‘right’/‘wrong’
- Ethical statements show emotional states/feelings about issues
- The words ‘right’ & ‘wrong’ merely convey dis/approval

Question 18

Link between naturalism & intuitionism

Answer 18

• Shared moral values: Broad agreement on moral values, almost everyone agrees that torture, unprovoked murder & rape are wrong. This suggests that morality cannot be just a matter of personal opinion
  = Counter: Cultural variation in values & morals
• Moral progress: Considerable progress in attitudes to racism & slavery have been made, implying ethical language does describe real things. If there was no talk of right/wrong then there would be no moral progress as progress requires a fixed point to measure against
• Need for a standard: If there is no objective right/wrong then there can be no moral standards eg there would be no difference between the morality of veganism v cannibalism

Question 19

Emotivism vs Naturalism & Intuitionism

Answer 19

• Focus on differences of moral values
• Difficult for those who don’t believe in morals to explain progress + progress is not linear
• If morality is subjective & not based in facts, then the difficulties of naturalistic fallacy & is-ought gap are avoided

Question 20

Weaknesses of emotivism

Answer 20

• Trivialisation: There is no distinction between ‘I don’t like apples’ & ‘killing is wrong’
• No discussion: Prevents relevant & reasonable disscuion, reduces it down to ‘X, hurrah’ & ‘Y, boo’