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Introduction to Metaethics

• Completion of chapter two discussion.
• Metaethics focuses on the nature of moral reality.

Major Issues in Metaethics

• Status of ethical judgments and actions:
  • Are moral judgments capable of being true or right?
  • What makes them true or right?
  • Where do moral judgments come from?
  • Are they discovered or created?

Four Perspectives on Moral Judgments

• Recap of previous discussion on perspectives:
  1. Subjective Relativism
  2. Cultural Relativism
  3. Emotivism
  4. Objectivism

Subjective Relativism

• Concept explained:
  • Individual determines what is morally right or wrong.
• Problems identified:
  • Individuals can create their own moral worlds.
  • This does not align with general moral views.

Cultural Relativism

• Concept explained:
  • Culture/society determines moral standards.
• Problems identified:
  • Fails to accommodate moral reformers (e.g., Martin Luther King could be deemed immoral).
  • No possibility of moral progress; only moral change.
  • Critical moral criticism cannot be enacted on societies with heinous actions.

Emotivism

• Definition:
  • Moral judgments do not ascribe properties to actions but express emotions.
• Common sense view versus emotivism:
  • Common sense holds that moral judgments can be true or false (cognitivism).
  • Emotivism is a form of noncognitivism, denying moral judgments' capability of being true or false.

Fact-Value Problem

• Definition:
  • Relationship between factual statements and moral values.
  • Can moral values be derived from facts?
• Classical root by David Hume:
  • 
    ### Fallacy of Deriving Ought from Is
  • Explanation:
  • Moving from a factual statement (“is”) to a prescriptive statement (“ought”) is a fallacy.
  • Example given:
  • Fact: "There is a tree outside my house."
  • Value: "I ought to cut it down."
  • Hume’s assertion:
  • There is no valid inference from factual statements to moral conclusions.

Basis of Emotivism

• Emotions form the basis for moral judgments:
  • Example:
  • "Murder is wrong" translates to “I dislike murder.”
• Implication:
  • Moral right and wrong do not truly exist; they are merely emotional expressions.
• A.J. Ayer's verification principle of meaning:
  • Criteria for meaningful statements:
  1. Tautologies (truth by definition).
  2. Empirically verifiable statements.
  • Argument:
  • Moral statements cannot be verified; thus, they lack meaning.

Consequences of Emotivism

• No moral facts exist, only attitudes toward moral judgments.
• Moral disagreements are disagreements about feelings, not facts.
• Common objections:
  • Verification principle itself is not verifiable, failing its own criteria.
  • Emotivism contradicts common sense moral experiences.

Objectivism

• Definition:
  • Asserts that moral truths exist independently of individuals or societies.
• Distinction from Absolutism:
  • Objective principles can have exceptions based on circumstances.
• Examples to clarify:
  • Assertion that Mount Everest's height is objectively true regardless of individual or societal beliefs.

Key Aspects of Objectivism

• Universal and objective moral principles exist for all people.
• Example provided:
  • Torturing people for fun is universally considered morally wrong.
• Implications:
  • Diversity in moral values across cultures is often exaggerated.
  • All cultures must uphold core values for survival.
  • Moral disagreements can be resolved through reasoning.
  • All actions can be evaluated against universal moral standards.

Conclusion

• Recap of major ethical positions:
  • Subjective relativism and cultural relativism identified with significant philosophical problems.
  • Emotivism critiques the understanding of moral judgments emphasizing emotional bases.
  • Objectivism supports the existence of universal moral truths, emphasizing their validity irrespective of individual or cultural perspectives.