Theories

Moral Realism

Moral Realism

• Moral properties exist independently of the mind

• We can discover these

• They can be known to be true or false

Moral Anti-Realism

• Anti-Realism = denies objects exist mind-independently

• Moral anti-realism claims no moral concepts exist independently

• They reflect something else like feelings or attitudes

Moral Cognitivism

• Ethical language expresses ethical beliefs about how the world is

• Ethical language aims to describe how the world is

• Can be true or false

Moral Non-Cognitivism

• Moral judgements don’t aim to describe the world

• Ethical statements are neither true nor false

Moral Naturalism

• Moral truths

Moral Non-Naturalism

Intuitionism

• Form of Non-Naturalism

• Some of our moral judgements are synthetic yet self-evident. M

• oral properties can’t be discovered through natural means (ex. science) but still exist

• Ex. colour yellow -

  • we can’t define it but recognise it through rational intution

Emotivism

Prescriptionivism

Error Theory