Moral realism

Define cognitivism

Moral statements have value if they can be proved true or false or truth apt

“murder is wrong”, this means something like “it is true that murder is wrong”

Define non-cognitivism

Moral statements can have value but they do not need to be proved true or false

When someone says “murder is wrong” they mean something like “Boo! Murder!” or “Don’t murder people!”

Define moral realism

claims about morality are mind-independent moral properties/facts that objectively exist

E.g. the badness of pollution

Define moral anti-realism

Denies that , there are no mind-independent moral properties/facts

Define moral naturalism

Cognitivist belief that morality is objective and can be studied scientifically , moral knowledge is scientific knowledge

Moral naturalism believes moral facts are natural facts and moral properties are natural properties

Define moral non-naturalism

Morality is objective but cannot be studied scientifically because it is wholly independent from any other king of thing, moral language is like maths or logic

How do moral naturalists believe we can have knowledge about morality ?

Empirically through observation

Outline Mill’s proof of the principle of utility for moral naturalism

P1: Something is good if it is desirable​

P2: Something is desirable if it is desired

P3: Each person desires their own happiness​

C1: Therefore, each person’s happiness is desirable for each person​

C2 : Therefore, each person’s happiness is good for that person​

C3 : Therefore, the happiness of all is good for all people​

P4: If something is good, then we ought to pursue it​

C4 : Therefore, everyone should pursue the happiness of all​

Outline the criticism of Mill , the fallacy of composition

Inference from C2,3 is invalid

It assumes because one thing is true the whole part of it must be true

Thinks each of us want happiness we all should want happiness ,

What type of theory is moral naturalism ?

reductionist , familiar concepts refer to the same thing as other concepts

Define reductionism

thinking that moral concepts can be reduced to non-moral concepts

Outline the criticism of Mill from Moore , the naturalistic fallacy

Mill jumps from what people actually desire to what people ought to desire without justification

e.g someone may desire immoral things such as killing animals

Outline Bentham’s argument for moral naturalism

Our lives are entirely controlled by pleasure and pain

These are the standards by which we measure what we should do​

These are the standards by which we decide what we will do​

Even people who deny this are still controlled by it​

We can understand moral concepts in terms of natural concepts

Outline Aristotle’s argument for moral naturalism

P1. Everything has a function

P2. Therefore humans have a function

P3. Our function is determined by our distinctive or characteristic activity which enables an understanding of the type of thing we are

P4. Only humans have a rational soul

P5. So our function is to live rationally

A good human for Aristotle lives rationally and exercises their virtue leading to eudaimonia