Meta Ethics

Question 1

Ethical Naturalism

Answer 1

Moral properties = natural properties. Meaning features/aspects of the physical world. Makes naturalism a form of moral realism

Question 1

Example of Ethical Naturalism

Answer 1

Bentham’s utilitarianism form an ethical naturalism, claims that goodness is pleasure and that pleasure is a natural property we seek

Question 2

Hume’s is/ought gap

Answer 2

Benthams argument for naturalism is that human nature is to find pleasure - we cannot help but link pleasure to goodness
Infers our ethical judgements is from our feelings - we move too easily from factual statements - is to ought. We cannot empirically detect the vice/wrongness

Question 3

Mill about naturalism

Answer 3

MILL argues that happiness is the ultimate desire, goodness - what is good for us might not be good. Better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied

Question 4

Naturalism on good/bad

Answer 4

See these as empirical facts. Ie - Natural law: Aquinas views the world as having a God-given order: good observed via purpose/telos

Question 5

Mill FOR naturalism

Answer 5

We are able to know what is good or desirable - things that people actually desire
Significant agreement in values throughout cross-cultural regions: reduce morality to a matter of opinion wrong
ie. comparing holocaust to food preferences

Question 6

Naturalistic fallacy

Answer 6

If something is natural must be good ie. canines to eat meat does not make vegetarians morally wrong.

Question 7

G.E Moore against Ethical naturalism

Answer 7

Criticism of Mill’s naturalism in open question argument - pleasure cannot be the same thing as goodness - still possible to ask if goodness is truly good - naturalism makes assumptions ie. Aquinas on telos/purpose: existentialists reject assumption

Question 8

Foot on ought/is

Answer 8

No problem in deriving ought from is - ought functions like need ie plant.
Aristotellian moral precepts: fluorishing natural property of organisms ie. plant needing sun to fluorish
FOOT illustrated

Question 9

MacIntyre on Ethical Naturalism

Answer 9

Modern societies focus on abstract law improved without foundation / apparent connection to the facts of communal human practice

Question 10

Nozick’s thought experiment

Answer 10

Demonstrates the dangers of basing moral judgements on natural properties
By demonstrating that people prefer a less-than-perfect real life over a perfect simulated one, Nozick implies that “the good” cannot be reduced to a purely naturalistic, internal state of pleasure.
If happiness is just pleasure, then the machine should be the ultimate goal.
If we refuse it, then “the good” includes external factors like authenticity, agency, and truth.

Question 11

Intuitionist

Answer 11

Good/bad are non-natural properties: not natural, but real in some sense

Question 12

Analogy of the colour yellow

Answer 12

Yellow doesn’t have any distinguishable properties: just intuitively know it. Same w/ good/bad

Question 13

Is intuitionalism cognitivist?

Answer 13

Yes, we can gain knowledge on ethical propositions

Question 14

G.E Moore open argument

Answer 14

Goodness is an open question, cannot be defined by itself

Question 15

Intuitionalism vs moral disagreement

Answer 15

Evidence FOR intuitionism = cross-cultural moral agreements in a core set of moral codes: all culture have rules about killing/stealing - we share intuition of right/wrong
Understanding of the word good = explain moral disagreements

Question 16

Mackie against intuitionalism

Answer 16

Points out descriptive moral relativism - there is also mass cross-cultural moral disagreements. Doesnt prove meta ethical relativism - no non-natural: doesn’t provide absolutist argument against this

Question 17

Defence of intuitionism against Mackie

Answer 17

Inconsistency in moral reasoning a product of the social climate, strengthen that adding moral agreements abd evolutionary drives

Question 18

Freud against intuitionalism

Answer 18

Moral agreements a result of social conditioning - basic constructions to be in relation to society ie no stealing/killing
Isn’t intuition, but developed on by countless years of progression and trial and error

Question 19

Intuitionism on the fact-value challenge

Answer 19

moral values separate from empirical world - unlike empiricism, able to establish moral facts that ensure right and wrong

Question 20

Evolution against intuitionism

Answer 20

Evolutionary explanations of morility ie Darwins or psychological evaluations like Freuds idea on social conditioning better to account on morality - certain things are right/wrong

Question 21

WD Ross FOR intuitionism

Answer 21

Know intuitionally when to help others - prima facie dtuies

Question 22

Prichard FOR intuitionism

Answer 22

Morality is like common sense

Question 23

Kahneman AGAINST intuitionsim

Answer 23

Intuitions like are driven by fear - emotions are machines for jumping for conclusions

Question 24

Cognitivism

Answer 24

We can have moral knowledge, ethical statements about facts that can be proved true and false - moral values derived from sense experience

Question 25

Non-Cognitivism

Answer 25

When someone makes a moral statement they arent describing the world but expressing their emotions and opinions: moral statements aren't descriptive and have subjective moral properties

Question 26

Emotivism

Answer 26

Ayer broadly agrees w Hume/Moore - naturalistic fallacy disconnects values from natural properties we observe - nonetheless, reject Moore's idea of non-natural property - unverifiable Ethical language is not analytical - denied w/o contradiction: ethical language is just expressions of emotions and meaningless

Question 27

Ayer verification principle

Answer 27

States that a statement is only meaningful if it is either analytical or empirically verifiable

Question 28

Premise of emotivism

Answer 28

p1. only desires are motivating, not belifs p2. ethical language involves motivation c1. so, ethical language expresses non-cognitive desires

Question 29

Stevenson on emotivism

Answer 29

Words have descriptive and dynamic meaning - loaded down w/ work = descriptive, but also dynamic as you hope someone will help you with the workload - similarly, 'abortion is wrong': Good have both a descriptive and dynamic set of standard meaning

Question 30

Criticism against verification principle

Answer 30

tautology, it in itself cannot be verified: BUT... Ayer base emotivisn on other argument ie. Hume's motivation argument

Question 31

Hume's motivation argument

Answer 31

Hume’s motivation argument posits that moral judgments inherently motivate action, whereas reason alone is "impotent" and cannot produce action or desire. Because moral judgments (sentiments) drive behavior, while reason merely informs us of facts, Hume concludes that morality is not derived from reason, but from sentiments of approval or disapproval, forming a foundation for emotivism.