naturlaism

Question 1

what is meta ethics

Answer 1

an area of ethics that seeks to explore and discover menaings of words used in ethical statments - it attmpts to explain wether ethical words are maeaningul or meaning less.

Question 2

what is a cognitivist

Answer 2

someone who belives that moral language is menaingful and relates to objective truth

Question 3

what is naturlism

Answer 3

naturalism can refer to the idea that moral truths are derived from nature, human nature, or the natural world, rather than from divine or supernatural sources.

Question 4

how do naturlists prove ethical statements are cognitivist and can be verfiied or falsified?

Answer 4

naturlsist treat ethical statemnts in the same way as any other statments about the nature world. these statments are cognitivists which means that they can check and then know that the statment contains facts about the world
and naturlaists belive that this is the most relibale wat.

Question 5

what is a cognitive statments

Answer 5

• objective
• can be checked ith empirical evidence
• factural is true

Question 6

what is a non cognitive statment

Answer 6

• subjective
• has no method of checking
  -not true or false

Question 7

how do they believe that moral terms can be undertstood by analysing the natural world?

Answer 7

• naturlists find evidence in the world for good or bad
  more scientific
  they use sensory information and apply logicl factualities to obtain factual truth

Question 8

give an exmaple on what naturlosts belive

Answer 8

A naturalist might believe that human emotions, like love or fear, can be explained through biology and evolution. For instance, love could be seen as a result of brain chemistry and evolutionary survival instincts, rather than a mystical or spiritual force.

Question 9

how do objective moral truths exists independantoy of human beings according to naturlists

Answer 9

• there is a objective standard of good
  -they think good is
  1. known independant of human opinion - good is already in the world we as humans havent created it
  2. verified or falsified
  3. observable
  4. intrinsic to certain ietms/ actions

Question 9

what did bradley say on naturlaism?

Answer 9

• morla language is based on propositions that can be proven to be true or false - exmaple it is january can be proven
  -ethical statments express facts about the world, our position in society and articulate our moral duty
• to be moral is to live in accorddance with out position in sociey

Question 9

theories who were a naturlosts?

Answer 9

J.S mill - defined good as an action that maximises happiness and minimises pain

Question 9

what do they say about moral facts?

Answer 9

moral facts are real amd can br known by hiumans using emprical methods

Question 9

how can ethical conclusions be undertsood by naturlists

Answer 9

by empricially observing etc the evidence of the result - happiness is good can be investigated iimprically

Question 9

what does anturlist say about verfied moral statments are objectivce truths and universal

Answer 9

once an ethical statment has been verified as true this means that it is an objective fcat and true regardless of opinion

Question 10

where did the term naturlism come from

Answer 10

a crictic of the approach ge moore

Question 10

what appraoch to naturlist use

Answer 10

psychology and natural sciece to explain morlity

Question 11

what is bradleys ntaurlism approach

Answer 11

• Bradley in his book ethical studies was interested in the understanding of the meaning of human existence
• He rejected both hedonism beacause individual happiness didn’t provide self understanding and realisation
• He also rejected Kant that we should only do our duty for duty’s sake
• He made it the best of both
• He said that moral language is based on propositions that can be proven true or false
• We shouldn’t do things that stop us from doing our moral duty and to be moral is to live in accordance with out positions in society
• “The icy chains of universal customs are hardening themselves around his cradled life” – we hav things preventing/ restricting us in our lives
• He says that there are no set moral laws and we need to adapt ourselves to fit into society- right and wrong changes over time, society and age etc everything that we live into – adapt the good of society to be achieved throug hard work and obedience
  2. I do what the school have asked me to – brings better education for me and others, improves my knowledge
• Work to the best of my ability –
  3. Killing someone: it hurts people, can cause depression for family

for bradley the goal should be self realisation and understanding our place in society so that we could function as a social bieng
he says that good can be defines and has real existence because ethical statments express propositions about each persons place in society and duties
- good is provable using emprirical evidence because it is observable in society - a good act or a good pen

Question 12

what do natulists say overall

Answer 12

Naturalism is the philosophical belief that everything that exists is part of the natural world and can be explained by natural causes, laws, and scientific principles. It rejects the idea that anything supernatural—such as gods, spirits, or other non-material forces—exists or influences the world. In simple terms, naturalists think everything, from the stars to human thoughts, can be understood through science, observation, and logic, without needing to appeal to supernatural explanations.

Question 13

where did the term “naturalim” come from

Answer 13

GE moore

Question 14

naturlism exmaple in a theory

Answer 14

naturlists belive that ethical terms like good can be definbes by using non ethical terms like happiness and purpose
utilitarianism says the greates pleazure for the greatest amoun =t of epople-
utilitarianism uweighs up the pros and cons using the hedonic calcuclu

Question 15

why is naturlism also knwon as moral realism

Answer 15

ethical statments can be shpwn to have an ibjective reality or be objectively true or false - they are not jsyt a matter of opinion

Question 16

To what extent are moral statements objective?

Answer 16

They arent objective as they are all opinions, there will always be someone else who may think different to the statement made. Although there may be a 99% agreement that rape is wrong there will be someone else who things it is right so there is nothing that absolutely everyone n the world could agree on.

Question 17

for bradley what is societys best intrest

Answer 17

• he points to morality, politics, science, philosophy as part of social evaluatoin and evidence of human nature workingn in societys best intret

Question 18

what are the challanges to naturlism

Answer 18

1. humes law : you cannot derive an ought from an is because - he says that it is an evaluative claim that prescribes moral behavous in the premises there are no evaltuatove information they are just factual so you cant more from factual desctipritve statmehts to prescriptive staments - factual statment about the world do not enable us to deduce how we should behave
2. moores naturliistic falalcy: good cant be defines because ethical statments are not the same as natural fcats and it is a msitake to think that they are the same - becayse natrulist all defien good in diffrent ways and not all similair so if we canmnot agree on what good is then there is no way of empricially [roving what is right an wrong. instead moore says thst good id good and you cannot explain it to people who dont already know what it is
3. open ended argument: soem questions require a yes or a no answer, seom questions are open ended because the naswe is not simple - defining goodness as a natuela propety leaves us with an open ended question

Question 19

stengths of naturlism

Answer 19

• allows moral claims to be teste
• can ver verified of falsified
• gives a set of absolutes
• we can legimise it
• universal
• the methodology is good