moral realism + anti realism 3m Flashcards
What is emotivism?
- It is a non-cognitivist and moral anti-realist view
- claims that the when expressing a moral claim it expresses the sentiments (pro or con attitudes) of the person.
- The boo/hurrah theory
What is prescriptivism?
- It is a non-cognitivist and moral anti-realist view
- claims that the when expressing a moral claim it serves to command or commend behaviour so they are imperatives.
- The claim that ‘x is morally right’ means ‘do x’.
What is error theory?
Error theory is a cognitivist moral anti-realist view that there are no mind-independent moral properties, so all moral propositions that assert or imply the existence of mind-independent moral properties are false.
What is moral anti-realism?
Typically what all moral anti-realists have in common is that they claim either
(a) there are no moral properties/facts at all
(b) there are moral properties/facts but they are all mind-dependent
What would a prescriptivist say “it is wrong to tell lies” means?
- For a prescriptivist the claim that ‘it is wrong to tell lies’ means ‘do not lie’ (an imperative) and includes the commitment that everyone in the same situation should not lie (universality).
What would an emotivist say “it is wrong to eat animals” means?
- In emotivism, our moral judgements are (or at least involve) expressions of our emotions (pro-attitudes or con-attitudes).
- ‘X is wrong’ would be seen as the equivalent of booing (informally, the ‘boo-hurrah’ theory). So ‘Eating animals is wrong’ means ‘Eating animals, boo!’.
What would an error theorist say about the statement “it is wrong to steal”?
An error theorist would say that the statement “it is wrong to steal” is false, as it is an attempt to state a belief about a property (wrongness) that doesn’t exist.
What is the difference between cognitivism and non-cognitivism about ethical language?
- Cognitivism is the view that ethical claims are truth-apt (they express beliefs which describe reality)
- whereas non-cognitivism is the view that moral claims cannot be true or false and are not therefore truth evaluable (they do not express beliefs, but sentiments or recommendations for example).
How would an intuitionist define “good”?
- By “good”, the intuitionist means a basic, indefinable, unanalysable **non-natural property of moral reality **of which we have intuitive awareness.
- Like the concept yellow, goodness cannot be broken down any further.
- It could not be explained to someone who hadn’t already seen/grasped it.
Outline Ayer’s verification principle
A proposition is meaningful iff it is either
(1) analytically true or false, or
(2) its truth or falsity can be empirically verified (either in practice or in principle)
What is moral realism?
Moral realism is the view that there are ** mind-independent moral facts/properties**. Moral propositions are true to the extent that they correspond with these facts, and false if they don’t
What is the difference between ethical naturalism and non-naturalism?
Ethical naturalists claim that ethical properties/facts are reducible to natural/physical properties/facts whereas ethical non-naturalists claim that ethical properties are not reducible to natural properties/facts.
According to Ayer’s emotivism, what does ‘x is morally right’ mean?
- For an emotivist ‘X is right’ might be seen as the equivalent of cheering
- ‘X is wrong’ as the equivalent of booing
- informally, the ‘boo-hurrah’ theory
- So ‘x is morally right’ means ‘x, hurrah’ BUT ‘x is morally wrong’ means ‘boo, x’
- Ethical language expresses emotions or attitudes - ‘pro-attitude’ or ‘con-attitudes’.
According to Hare’s prescriptivism, what does ‘x is morally right’ mean?
- For a prescriptivist the claim that ‘x is morally right’ means ‘do x’ (an imperative) and includes the commitment that everyone in the same situation should do x (universality).
