Meta Ethics Flashcards
What is naturalism
The belief that all values can be defined in terms of some natural property in the world, empirical
What do naturalists believe about whether ethical statements are meaningful
They are
Naturalism is realist and cognitive, meaning what?
Moral truths do exist and moral statements can be either true or false
What is Aquinas version of naturalism
Says we discover moral truths through observation of the God given natural order of the universe
We know that something is good if it fulfills it’s purpose
What is Bentham and mills version of naturalism
We discover moral truths through observation of what brings about pleasure over pain
What is naturalists position on relativism/absolutism
Most naturalists are absolutist but some support relativism (e.g utilitarians)
What is emotivism
The belief that ethical terms evince (show) approval or disapproval
What is emotivist’s view on whether ethical statements are meangingful
They arent
Emotivism is anti realist and non cognitive theory, meaning what?
Moral truths do not exist and moral statements simply express our feelings
How did AJ Ayer develop emotivism
Argued that there are three types of statement: logical (analytic), factual (empirical), moral
Only logical and factual statements are meaningful
What is the fact value distinction
Humes idea that there is often a missing premise between saying a fact such as ‘hurting someone means causing them pain’ and then stating a value such as ‘hurting someone is wrong’
There needs to be a statement in between of ‘people don’t like pain’
What is intuitionism
The belief that basic moral truths are indefinable but self evident
What does intuitionism say about whether moral statements are meaningful
They are
Is intuitionism realist and cognitive or anti realist and non cognitive
Realist and cognitive
How does intuitionism suggest that we discover moral truths
Through our intuition - we ‘just know’
Who is emotivism associated with
G.E. Moore (20th century philosopher)
How does Moore explain our knowledge of what is good
Compares it to our knowledge of the colour yellow - we can identify what it is, but we cannot define it
What is Moore’s idea of simple and complex ideas
Simple ideas, such as goodness and the colour yellow cannot be defined because they can’t be broken into parts
Complex ideas can be broken into parts so can be defined
