META: INTUITIONISM Flashcards
What is morality?
Intuitive.
How does the word “good” have meaning?
It refers to the goodness we intuit.
What does intuitionism not mean?
That all moral decisions are reached by relying on intuition.
What did Moore say about “good”?
Cannot be defined.
What did Moore claim goodness is?
A non-natural property.
What do utilitarians argue that Moore disagreed with?
That goodness can be defined, measured, qualified and quantified.
What are utilitarians guilty of according to Moore?
Naturalistic fallacy.
What is naturalistic fallacy?
Making the leap between a FACT (is) and a MORAL JUDGEMENT (ought).
What can an action or consequence be?
Self-evidently good or bad that our intuition picks up on.
What does objective moral knowledge give?
Moral language meaning - we know what goodness is as we intuit it in acts.
What are complex terms? (example)
‘Horse’ can be broken down into animal, mammal, etc.
What are simple terms? (example)
‘yellow’ we can’t break it down any further.
What is Moore’s famous quote on simple and complex terms?
“It cannot be defined and that is all I have to say about it.”
What does Pritchard emphasise?
Obligation.
What do reason and intuition do according to Pritchard?
Reason collects the facts and intuition determines which counter-action to follow.
What did Pritchard say about people?
Some have clearer moral intuition than others because their moral thinking has been further developed.
How can you criticise Pritchard?
He does not tell us how we know who has the clearer intuition.
What did Pritchard say about a conflict of obligations?
We must look at the situation and decide which obligation is greater.
What did Ross accept about “good”, “obligatory” or “right”?
All indefinable but also added that in any given situation moral duties become apparent.
What are prima facie duties?
‘At first appearance’ - they are evident to us.
What did Ross recognise?
That sometimes principles conflict: to keep a promise, may have to lie.
How can intuitionism be defined?
A form of cognitivism that holds that moral statements can be known to be true or false immediately through a kind of rational intuition.
