Meta Ethics

Question 1

Cognitive

Answer 1

The belief that moral statements are able to be true or false

Question 2

Non-cognitive

Answer 2

The belief that moral statements are not subject to truth or falsity

Question 3

Naturalism

Answer 3

The belief that moral values can be defined in terms of some natural property of the world

Question 4

Naturalistic fallacy

Answer 4

The error of reducing goodness to a property that is found in nature

Question 5

Intuitionism

Answer 5

The belief that moral values can be defined in terms of some natural propoerty of the world
- known through our intuition

Question 6

Emotivism

Answer 6

The belief that ethical terms show approval or dispproval

Question 7

Naturalism - Aquinas

Answer 7

• the world has God given natural order that we can discover through observation and reasoning
• everything has a telos
• observe the good if its achieveing a purpose

Question 8

Naturalism - mill

Answer 8

• based on utilitarianism
• some actions lead to pleasure others pain - allows us to find right and wrong
• certain pleasures and goods must mean that is these things are desirable they are good in themselves

Question 9

Intuitionsism - moore

Answer 9

• gap between fact and value
• we can ask open questions - several possible answers
• ask closed questions - one answer is actually possible
• problems arise whenever we try to define what is good in terms of something in the world
• ‘goodness’ can’t be defined but is self evident
• colour yellow
• good cannot be broken into properties

Question 10

Intuitionism - pritchard

Answer 10

• moral dilemas occur we intuit our primary duty in the given situation
• there is a difference between reason and intuition: reason looks at the facts behind a situation and intuition establishes what to do
• intuition is the basis for moral obligations

Question 11

Intuitionism - ross

Answer 11

• we intuitively know when something is right but also argued that it is our duty to carry out certain actions
• prima facie duties (beneficence, fidelity)
• sometimes duties clash so we must ‘judge to be the most morally incumbernt will present itself’

Question 12

Emotivism - Ayer

Answer 12

• a statement is meaningful if it is: analytic or synthetic
• moral statements are not obviously logical nor can any matter of fact prove them to be true
• they are meaningless and are statements of emotions
• boo-hurra

Question 13

Emotivism - hume

Answer 13

• it is natural for us to react emotionally

- our emotions and desires motivate our actions

Question 14

Hare - prescriptivism

Answer 14

• when i say something is ‘wrong’ i am implying that everyone should think the same
• you are prescribing what others should think
• recognise that although morality is subjective the individual should do what is morally required and be consistent in their ethical actions

Question 15

Are meaningful

Answer 15

• standards of good and bad are similar across cultures - not the case if it is opinion
• may not demonstrate moral facts but DO demonstrate that human societies when faced with similar issues have responded with similar feelings and attitudes
• we can speak inteligently about ideas of moral progress
• no such thing as right or worng then this would require that we tolerate different answers to issues of right and wrong
• lack of values and the lack of meaning in ethical statements in that nothing ultimately matter

Question 16

Are meaningless

Answer 16

Mackie

1. Relativism - there is too much disagreement about what is right and wrong for it to me facutual matter
2. Empiricism - nothing available to our senses that would give us an idea of right and wrong
3. ‘Queerness’ - if they were to exist then they would be very unusual things
   - unverifiable so are meaningless

Question 17

Error theory

Answer 17

Makie

• there are no moral facts, merely subjective values
• when we make moral statements we speak as though the stataements we make are true ot false
• we are in error
• objective values are built into moral language but this is false
• in everyday life we assume and speak in terms of moral facts yet when viewed objectively from the outside these facts do not exist

Question 18

Difficulties of naturalism

Answer 18

• rely on the idea of there being a purpose or telos built into the universe (reject the idea of purpose)
• the gap between factual ‘is’ statements and value judgements ‘ought’ and ‘ougth not’. Moral judgements are primarily a matter of emotion, nothing factual can be observed that leads to the idea of right or wrong
• moore, there is a naturalistic fallcay if we claim the pleasure is good

Question 19

Advantages of intuitionism

Answer 19

• avoids problems such as is-ought gap and the naturalistic fallacy, yet still presents morality as objective
• no fact-value gap there is no attempt to jump to find moral values through observation of the world
• there is considerable moral agreement in the world
• it establishes moral facts, they are not just a matter of opinion

Question 20

Difficulty with intuitionism

Answer 20

• peoples intuitions often seem to differ
• H.A pritchard responded to this saying some people have a better intuition tha others (not convincing
• there is a significant amount of disagreement in the world
• seems unscientific and far fetched, it cannot be scientifically analysed
• ‘just know’ has little different to ‘just feeling’, leans towards emotivism
• makes ethics become mathematical, truths are self-evident and obviously true. Maths doesn’t argue over answers unlike ethics, maths uses concrete evidence to resolve (not present in ethics)

Question 21

Moore countering naturalism

Answer 21

• saying that moral statements can be defined is a naturalistic fallacy
• there is a jump from an ‘is’ to an ‘ought;
• it is not logical to move from facts to judgements

Question 22

F.H.Bradley - naturalism

Answer 22

• all ethical statements are the same as non-ethical ones

- means that they can be verified and falsified

Question 23

Mackie countering intuitionism

Answer 23

• knowing what is good is determined by intuitionism is not proven
• is intuition different from opinion?
• intuition is variable

Question 24

James Rachels counter emotivism

Answer 24

• moral judgements appeal to reason
• they are not expressions of feelings
• moral statements need reason otherwise they are arbitrary
• everyone can do

Question 25

Stevenson - emotivism

Answer 25

- moral statements express subjective beliefs