Meta Ethics 2

Question 1

What is prescriptivism a type of and who

Answer 1

moral non-cognitivism and anti realism
no moral facts or intention of one
created by Hare

Question 2

what is prescriptivism ideology

Answer 2

when people make moral claims they are trying to force their preferences onto other people

Don’t believe in any objective morality, so can’t agree that moral claims are realist

Question 3

what is an example of prescriptivism

Answer 3

sexism is wrong

I really would prefer that u would’nt be sexist

Question 4

what is Hume

Answer 4

an anti realist

Question 5

what is Hume’s is-ought gap

Answer 5

can’t draw a link between facts and values

belong in different conversations, not appropriate to base morality on natural facts

can’t relate natural facts to moral claims, just something we ought to do

Just because something is a fact, doesn’t make the moral conclusion a fact, we just ought to

Question 6

example of Hume’s is-ought gap

Answer 6

P: animals are sentient and feel pain (fact, is)
C: therefor we should not eat them (value, ought)

Question 7

what is Hume’s is-ought gap a criticism of and why

Answer 7

ethical naturalism

how it tries to make a link between nature; facts and ethical values

Question 8

What is emotivism a type of

Answer 8

non-cognitivism and anti-realism

Question 9

What did Hume think in term’s of emotivism

Answer 9

humans don’t engage in moral reasoning to decide what to do

but justify the emotions they feel about certain actions

Question 10

Hume’s example of a seed (emotivism)

Answer 10

why don’t humans think it’s immoral when a sapling that grows from a seed over takes its parent and blocks it from sunlight?
Isn’t that the height of ingratitude?
Isn’t it ‘immoral’?

Question 11

Hume’s example of animals (emotivism)

Answer 11

why don’t humans think it’s immoral when animals engage in incest?
Immoral for humans, why not for animals?

Question 12

why do we condone these examples - Hume

Answer 12

we don’t condemn these things as immoral in nature because they have no emotional impact on us

Question 13

what do Hume’s examples therefore argue

Answer 13

therefore arguing morality is based on emotion, not factual

if we are emotionally hurt by something it’s immoral

Question 14

s statements about morality put forward by hume

Answer 14

1. there are no moral truths in the world
2. all ethical statements are expressions of emotion
3. values cannot be logically derived from fast (is ought gap)

Question 15

what are ethical statement to hume

Answer 15

Ethical statements are merely statements of our emotional responses to certain things

Question 16

2 weaknesses of emotivism

Answer 16

isn’t it the other way round? are we just upset by immoral things?
the examples are not natural for humans

Question 17

what group took up Hume’s idea of emotivism

Answer 17

Logical positivists

Question 18

what is the view of logical positivism and what is this known as

Answer 18

something can only be known to be true if it can be proved empirically

verification principle

Question 19

what does it mean for something to be proved empirically

Answer 19

through physical observation and evidence

Question 20

what makes a statement meaningful

Answer 20

if it can be checked empirically/using our senses, and meaningless if not

Question 21

Ayer

Answer 21

the most famous of the logical positivists

Question 22

what’s Ayer’s main book and what’s it about

Answer 22

language truth and logic

argues against intuition/ethical non-naturalism (Moore)

Question 23

What does Ayer think about moral statements and what’s his theory

Answer 23

no factual content, only expression of ethical disproval ‘emotional ejaculations’
Boo Hurrah Theory

Question 24

Ayer’s quote about stealing money

Answer 24

“stealing money is wrong… expresses no proposition which is true or false”

Question 25

Who are the thinkers of the emotivist approach

Answer 25

Hume, Ayer, Stevenson

Question 26

what does Strevenson do

Answer 26

split moral reasoning into 2 different phases: first and second pattern analysis

Question 27

Strevenson’s phase 1 of moral reasoning

Answer 27

first pattern analysis

ethical statements have two functions: emotivism and prescriptivism - express emotion and encouraging a similar action

purpose is to alert the listener of consequences and therefore give support in favour of an action

Question 28

What is Strevenson’s phase 2 of moral reasoning

Answer 28

second pattern analysis

ethical action is analysed as a more general rule

Question 29

what is an example of Strevenson’s 2 phase emotivism

Answer 29

Surface level: murder is wrong

first pattern analysis: murder causes grief

second pattern analysis: I disapprove of things that cause grief

Question 30

weakness of emotivism about disagreeing and dispute

Answer 30

no one can ever disagree, no facts to disagree with
no purpose in dispute because no truth can be established

there’s still meaning to debate without facts

Question 31

weakness of emotivism about disapproval and dispute

Answer 31

emotivism teaches disapproval is the only emotional response and not in a factual way, no proper reason

moral statement could be deemed as factual because it upsets people

Question 32

weakness of emotivism about delusion

Answer 32

emotivism tells cognitivists they are deluded, not deluded for people to believe their own claims to be factual and meaningful
not just baseless opinions

Question 33

weakness of emotivism about truth

Answer 33

moral uncertainty implies a truth
if morality was simply an expression of approval or disapproval, there wouldn’t be any uncertainty about moral actions
people debate about using rational faculties