Re-meta ethics flashcards

What is ethical naturalism?

The cognitivist theory that ethical language has meaning ,moral statements are absolute facts and this can be proven right or wrong through observation of the natural world around us

What did F.H Bradley state?

A person can be defined as good if they fulfil their role in society positively eg a good worker attends work on time etc

What did Philippa Foot state?

Philippa Foot argues that we can’t see wether a person is good or not but we can link goodness to virtues and observe wether a person is compassionate or not based on their actions .She used the example of an oak tree and stated that we know a good tree when we see one as we can observe its leaves ,strong trunk etc.What makes a good tree are the roots which we cannot see just as positive characteristics make up a good person and we cannot see them ,we can only observe them through compassionate actions

What did Mackie state?

Mackie argued that a person can only be defined as good if they adapt to the rules in different institutions and follow them ,rules within institutions differ from one another .This is the same as rules which some religions accept and some don’t eg Islam accepts polygamy whilst Christianity explicitly rejects it

What are 3 strengths of ethical naturalism?

Bradley’s theory remains relevant in modern society as in schools ,pupils are judged on their performance for reports based on what is observed in lessons

Ethical naturalism allows us to create fixed moral rules in society that people can follow so that there are clear moral guidelines for decision making ,this helps people navigate complex ethical theories and ensures societies can function better through people being able to rely on others for predictable behaviour ,truth-telling and fairness.If people do not follow the clear moral rules within society they can be held accountable through consequences put in place

Fixed rules maintains social stability ,if there were no fixed moral rules within society ,people will have their own idea on what is right and wrong as morality is subjective ,this can lead to a slippery slope which is why morality is grounded in the 5 primary precepts ,which stem from the natural law as well as John Stuart Mills harm principle and Kants example of the axeman

What are the 3 weakness of ethical naturalism?

Hume’s’ is/ ought argument states that it is a logical failure to link a natural property to a moral one ,as genuine facts can only lead to other facts ,there is a sharp gap between objective facts and what you ought to do based on values eg just because it is a fact that obesity is bad for health can’t force humans to logically care about the consequences as well as change how the world operates so people accept the descriptive statement as an inherent moral command for humans to eat healthy ,instead they have to insert their own personal value judgement known as a prescriptive statement.We ‘ought to eat healthy’,wether humans actually choose to do so or not is up to them

G.E Moore states that it is a failure of logic to link a natural property to a moral one as just because something brings pleasure or justice doesn’t make it the right thing to do ,the term pleasure can describe the psychological,phenomenological(subjective feeling of warmth ,feeling of satisfaction and emotional high of achievement)and physical state of the mind and body ,the term pleasure can be broken down into what is being desired ,liked and wanted being fulfilled whereas the term good just like yellow cannot be broken down ,they simply are what they are

Creating fixed rules in society demonstrates a lack of compassion as well as flexibility to consider a persons circumstances or intentions

What is ethical intuitionism?

Ethical intuitionism is the cognitivist theory that ethical language had meaning because moral statements are absolute facts ,we can prove wether they are right or wrong through the use of our intuition ,we can feel and sense if something is good for us or not

What did G.E Moore state about ethical intuitionism?

Naturalistic fallacy-it is a failure of logic to link a natural property to a moral one , just because I get happiness from something doesn’t make it right

What are simple and complex notions according to G.E Moore?

Simple notions-terms like good and yellow ,these can’t be described by being broken down eg the terms good and yellow

Complex notions-can be described by being broken down eg the physics, parts of a dog

What did Prichard state about ethical intuitionism?

He argued we must separate gold and duty and prioritise putting our duty over what is good eg Bonhoeffer duty was to help those in need but this was not seen as good by the people as he was actively breaking the law.He believed our duty is not fixed and changes from time to time .

What did Prichard believe are 3 things which allow us know when putting our duty over what is good is the right thing to do and what our duty should be depending on the situation?

Reason-collects all the facts in any situation

Intuition-tells us what to do

We simply know in our heart what to do after gathering all the facts using ours reason eg deciding which charity is the most beneficial to vote for

What did W.D Ross state about ethical naturalism?

W.D Ross developed the concept of prima facie duties and argued these are at first sight duties which we hold the most important eg values such as promise keeping and truth telling .These duties don’t all hold the same weight ,they depend on the situation and can at times conflict eg for the axe man example do we have the duty to tell the truth or lie to protect someone?our intuition acts as a moral compass so we simply know what to do in any situation

What are the 2 strengths of ethical intuitionism?

Accepts that views can change from time to time and situation to situation .

We are all born with intuition ,therefore certain views are interlinked eg murder is wrong

What are 2 weaknesses of ethical intuitionism?

How do we know if our intuition is correct ,we have all had a different childhood and been in different environments that can mould us eg if a person was abused as a child they may grow up believing it’s the right thing to do contrasting someone who may have had a peaceful childhood and therefore believes abuse is wrong

How do we know we have all the correct facts if we have all the facts at all to make an informed decision-our reason is corrupt due to the original sin eg milgrim shock study

What is emotivism?

The non cognitivist theory that ethical language doesn’t have meaning as it is simply an opinion and nothing else ,opinions are subjective

What 3 statements did A.J Ayer state there are for emotivism?

Synthetic(factual statements)-true by definition eg mathematical concepts only have one answer

Analytical(logical) statements-true by logic eg if someone says there is a bachelor ,we can infer they are single

Moral statements -they are simply an expression and cannot be verified through empirical evidence like synthetic and analytical statements

What did C.L Stevenson state about emotivism?

C.L Stevenson argued that moral statements and feelings are linked to an expression of a persons attitude eg the moral statement abortion is wrong isn’t absolute ,as this is among many subjective opinions ,a person saying this simply demonstrates the opinion they hold towards this matter which is that they value the SofL .When we are making a moral statement ,we are convincing a person to alter their mindset to match ours .Within moral debates ,we wouldn’t be arguing wether abortion is right or wrong ,we’d simply be debating the outcome of it

What is 1 strength of emotivism?

Explains and accounts for moral disagreements

What are 2 weaknesses of emotivism?

Removes the concept of rational debate -significant ethical debates cannot be reduced to a matter of opinion

Major crimes can occur due to people being consumed by emotions and not being kept in line through the absolute rules in society they may not be aware about or may not agree with due to being fuelled by other people agreeing with them