Meta Ethics Flashcards
define meta ethics
the exploration into the language of morality
define naturalism
the belief that values can be defined in terms of some natural property in the world
define intuitionism
the belief that basic moral truths are indefinable but self evident
define emotivism
the belief that moral truths just express approval or disapproval
define absolutism
the view that morals are fixed
give an example of an absolutist meta ethical theory
naturalism
define relativism
the view that morals are not fixed
give an example of a relativist ethical theory
emotivism
who were the vienna circle?
philosophers (logical positivists) who thought moral truths cannot be verified as objectively true
what is hume’s law?
you cannot go from an IS (fact) statement to an OUGHT (moral) statement
what is the naturalistic fallacy?
moore’s argument that it is a mistake to define moral terms with reference to other properties
who is the leading scholar of emotivism?
a.j. ayer
why is emotivism also known as the boo hurrah theory?
because moral statements only represent the views of the speaker
who is the leading scholar of intuitionism?
g.e. moore
what does moore’s theory suggest about moral truths?
they are known intuitively rather than scientifically or logically
how do naturalists approach morality?
morals are fixed absolutes
they can be recognised and observed the same way that we perceive other things in nature
name a religious naturalist scholar
aquinas
name two non-religious naturalist scholars
phillipa foot
f.h. bradley
are ethical naturalists absolutist or relativists?
absolutists
how does f.h. bradley distinguish between good and bad?
good- doing their duty in a particular institution
bad- failing to do their duty
what is concrete and objective for bradley?
our duty
how is bradley’s concept natural?
observable and empirical
what kind of naturalist is aquinas?
theological naturalist
thought goodness comes from the will of god
how did aquinas suggest we access the facts of morality?
reason and observation
what would the empiricist criticism of naturalism be?
right and wrong cannot be observed with the senses
how did hume criticise naturalism?
with hume’s law
what kind of theory is intuitionism?
absolutist and strong realist
when was the advent of intuitionism?
the early 20th century
give an example of moore’s naturalistic fallacy
good is like yellow, it cannot be defined but we know it when we see it
what were moral truths for moore?
self evident
what does it mean that a moral truth is self evident?
you don’t have to witness something to know it is wrong
how did w.d. ross develop intuitionism?
introduced the idea of the prima facie duties
how many prima facie duties were there?
7
what are the 7 prima facie duties?
promise keeping repairing harm done gratitude justice beneficence self improvement non- maleficence
