Phil 429 Midterm Term Lists

Page 1: Descriptive vs. Normative Uses of the Concept

Descriptive Morality

  • Definition: Examines moral beliefs and practices as they exist in various societies without making judgments on their correctness.
  • Example: A sociologist studying cultural variations in moral beliefs, such as differing attitudes toward capital punishment, exemplifies descriptive morality.

Normative Morality

  • Definition: Evaluates moral beliefs and practices based on ethical theories, determining what ought to be considered right or wrong.
  • Example: A philosopher arguing against capital punishment based on a deontological or utilitarian framework exemplifies normative morality.

Significance

  • Clarifies debates about moral relativism, universal moral principles, and the nature of morality (social construct vs. objective grounding).

The “Obvious Features” of Morality

Defining Features of Morality

  • Normative: Prescribes actions as opposed to just describing them.
  • Categorical: Moral obligations bind regardless of personal desires.
  • Critical: Moral judgments can be scrutinized.
  • Reason-Based: Typically supported by rational arguments.
  • Impartial: Requires setting aside self-interest.
  • Universal: Expected to apply across various situations and individuals.
  • General: Guides conduct broadly rather than case-by-case.
  • Supervenient: Moral properties depend on but are not reducible to non-moral properties.
  • Objective: Some moral claims are perceived as independent truths.
  • Motivating: Moral beliefs can influence behavior.
  • Truth-Apt: Moral statements can possess truth values.
  • Knowable: Moral truths can be discovered through reason or experience.

Example

  • Kant’s categorical imperative illustrates morality's categorical aspect—individuals should act according to principles that could be universal laws.

Significance

  • These features differentiate moral claims from other normative areas (like etiquette) and shape the discourse on moral realism versus anti-realism.

Page 2: Three Families of Normative Concepts

Categories of Normative Concepts

  • Evaluative Concepts (good/bad): Assess the value of actions or states.
  • Deontic Concepts (right/wrong, permissible/impermissible): Govern duty and obligation.
  • Aretaic Concepts (virtues): Concern character traits like courage or honesty.

Examples

  • Evaluative: "Telling the truth is good."
  • Deontic: "One ought to tell the truth."
  • Aretaic: "An honest person tells the truth."

Significance

  • This categorization facilitates the analysis of distinct moral theories—virtue ethics focuses on aretaic concepts; deontology and consequentialism emphasize deontic and evaluative concepts, respectively.

Multiplicity of Functions of Apparent “Statements” in Language

Functions of Statements

  • Descriptive: "The sky is blue."
  • Exclamatory: "Wow, what a beautiful sky!"
  • Imperative: "Look at the sky!"
  • Expressive: "I love blue skies."

Example

  • Moral claims like "Stealing is wrong" can be analyzed descriptively, prescriptively, or expressively.

Significance

  • This distinction is pivotal in metaethics, influencing theories such as Expressivism, which maintains that moral claims are not truth-apt.

The Principle “Ought Implies Can”

Principle Overview

  • States that moral obligations depend on the possibility of fulfilling them.
  • Key Proponent: Immanuel Kant.

Example

  • If an individual cannot physically save a drowning child, they are not morally obliged to attempt it.

Significance

  • Central in discussions on moral responsibility and free will—if one cannot act differently, moral responsibility is compromised.

Page 3: Synthetic vs. Analytic Statements

Definitions

  • Analytic Statements: True by definition (e.g., "All bachelors are unmarried").
  • Synthetic Statements: Require empirical verification (e.g., "The cat is on the mat").

Example

  • "Triangles have three sides" (analytic) versus "Water boils at 100°C" (synthetic).

Significance

  • Important in moral philosophy regarding the discoverability of moral truths through analytic (rationalist moral realism) versus synthetic (naturalism) means.

A Priori vs. A Posteriori Justification

Definitions

  • A Priori Justification: Based on reasoning alone, independent of experience (e.g., logic, mathematics).
  • A Posteriori Justification: Based on empirical observation.

Example

  • "2+2=4" (a priori) versus "The Earth orbits the Sun" (a posteriori).

Significance

  • Influences moral epistemology—are moral truths known through reason (rationalism) or through experience (empiricism)?

General Characterization of Supervenience

Definition

  • The principle posits that if two entities are identical in non-moral properties, they must be identical in moral properties.

Example

  • Two acts that are identical in all physical and psychological respects should have the same moral status.

Significance

  • Key in moral realism and metaethics, ensuring that moral properties are not arbitrary.

Metaphysical vs. Normative Interpretations of Moral Supervenience

Definitions

  • Metaphysical Supervenience: Suggests that moral properties depend on non-moral properties in a law-like manner.
  • Normative Supervenience: Focuses on moral consistency (treating similar cases alike).

Example

  • If causing pain unjustifiably is wrong, then it must be wrong in all similar situations.

Significance

  • This distinction informs debates around Intuitionism, Expressivism, and Naturalism.

Page 4: Intuitionism (Metaphysical Supervenience)

Overview

  • Moral properties are objective and irreducible, perceived through rational intuition.
  • Key Points:
    • Moral facts are direct and simple, non-natural properties.
    • Supervenience is metaphysical: identical natural properties lead to identical moral properties.
    • G.E. Moore argued that moral properties are perceived via a moral sense.

Examples

  • If kindness is good, it must be good in any identical situation.

Significance

  • Intuitionists reject expressivism and naturalism, claiming that moral properties exist independently of human attitudes.

Expressivism (Rejects Metaphysical Supervenience)

Overview

  • Moral statements express emotions or attitudes rather than stating facts.
  • Key Characteristics:
    • Moral claims are not truth-apt.
    • Supervenience is normative, applying consistently socially or logically.

Example

  • If one claims, "Causing pain for fun is wrong," then stating it is acceptable in the identical context later appears inconsistent.

Significance

  • Expressivists reject intuitionism (no objective moral facts) and naturalism (morality reflects attitudes).

Naturalism (Metaphysical Supervenience)

Overview

  • Moral properties exist but are reducible to natural facts (like well-being, pleasure).
  • Key Characteristics:
    • Moral facts are real but complex descriptions of natural facts.
    • Supervenience is metaphysical, where moral truths follow from natural properties.

Example

  • Maximizing happiness in any identical case must also be regarded as good.

Page 5: Summary Table: How Theories Handle Supervenience

Theories Overview

  • Intuitionism:

    • Metaphysical Supervenience: Acknowledged
    • Normative Supervenience: Acknowledged
    • Moral Facts Exist: Yes, objective truths
    • Moral Knowledge Works: Rational intuition

  • Expressivism:

    • Metaphysical Supervenience: No
    • Normative Supervenience: Acknowledged
    • Moral Facts Exist: No
    • Moral Knowledge Works: Through social norms and attitudes

  • Naturalism:

    • Metaphysical Supervenience: Acknowledged
    • Normative Supervenience: Acknowledged
    • Moral Facts Exist: Yes, but reducible
    • Moral Knowledge Works: Empirical observation and science