Meta ethics

Question 1

what is cognitivism

Answer 1

ethical language expressed beliefs about reality which can therefore be true or false

Question 2

what is non-cognitivism

Answer 2

ethical language expresses some non-cognition like emotion, cannot be true or false.

Question 3

what is ethical naturalism

Answer 3

argues that actions have objective moral properties which we can experience empirically.

Question 4

is naturalism cognitive or non cognitive

Answer 4

cognitive

Question 5

what theories are naturalistic

Answer 5

utilitarianism and Natural law

Question 6

what is Humes Is Ought gap

Answer 6

he attempts to show that moral judgements cannot be inferred from facts/ people move too quickly from a descriptive statement to.a a normative statement.

Question 7

why is Hume a weakness of naturalism

Answer 7

as naturalism takes facts from the world to infer facts

Question 8

what G.E Moores open question argument

Answer 8

he states the question “what is Good” is an open question. as it cannot be answered using natural terms.

Question 9

who came up with the naturalistic fallacy and what is it

Answer 9

G.E Moore, the term “good” in the sense of intrinsic value, is effectively indefinable.

Question 10

what was Mackies view of naturalism

Answer 10

Mackie viewed that people’s intuitions about ethics do express cognitive truth claims, but that their ethical views are only true or false relative to an induvidual or culture, so true for them.’

Question 11

where did Hume think right and wrong came from

Answer 11

moral judgements are caused by personal feeling

Question 12

is Hume a non cognitivist

Answer 12

no he came before this debate but his ideas can still be used

Question 13

why is naturalism a strength when thinking scientifically

Answer 13

naturalism allows moral claims to be testified and lays a foundation for the theory

Question 14

why is accepting no objective truths dangerous

Answer 14

it could lead to nihilism

Question 15

what is nihilism

Answer 15

the belief that life is meaningless, rejecting all moral principles

Question 16

why is ethical naturalism dangerous for minorities

Answer 16

Ethical naturalism does not allow for moral dispute. For example, ‘Mother Theresa was good,’ simply refers to how the majority feels. Then the judgement cannot be wrong or disputed by another person.

Question 17

what was Moores explanation of good using the colour yellow

Answer 17

says ‘good’ is indefinable the same as yellow. you just recognise that something is good by intuition

Question 18

why did W.D Ross argue that moral principles can’t be absolute

Answer 18

because they contradict one another, so he uses Prima Facie

Question 19

is emotivism cognitive or non cognitive

Answer 19

non cognitive

Question 20

what was Humes view

Answer 20

nature orientates us to pleasure, “morality is more properly felt than judged.”

Question 21

what is the Vienna circle

Answer 21

a group of philosophers in the 1920s who came up with logical positivism

Question 22

why is emotivism know as ‘hurrah,boo’

Answer 22

to say generosity is good is to say hoorah generosity, to say stealing is bad is to say boo stealing

Question 23

what is logical positivism

Answer 23

that only statements that can be solved through logical analysis are meaningful

Question 24

what did A.J Ayer believe of ethical language

Answer 24

“you acted wrongly in stealing the money, is nothing more than saying you stole the money”
ethical symbol adds nothing to a statement

Question 25

why does the view of Ayer fit with human psych

Answer 25

when people engage in moral debated, it is nothing more than an emotional conflict.

Question 26

what does Ayer think of the link of good and pleasure

Answer 26

“it is not self contradictory to say some pleasant things are not good’ so pleasure does not mean good.

Question 27

what is emotivism based on

Answer 27

the fact value gap created by Hume

Question 28

why is it a danger to place the foundations of emotivism on the fact value gap

Answer 28

if the fact value gap is mistaken, then emotivism will crumble.

Question 29

how does Stevenson criticise emotivism

Answer 29

although he is an emotivist, he gives a better explanation of why there are strong opinions. emotions are based on fundamental social, political or religious beliefs.

Question 30

what is a weakness of emotivism when considering reason

Answer 30

although reason is a slave of passion it should not be excluded prematurely .

Question 31

why is emotivism good as a secular theory

Answer 31

it rejects any sense that morality is beyond us, so putting the blame on us rather than a higher being.

Question 32

what is Pritchards theory if intuitionism

Answer 32

reason gives the facts and intuition determines the path to follow

Question 33

what is W.D Ross’ theory of intuition

Answer 33

principles should not be taken as absolutes, ‘ at first appearance, in moral duty our intuition identifies the Prima Facie.’

Question 34

how is Ross’ theory different to Pritchards in intuitionism

Answer 34

Ross adds guidance to duties that could clash.

Question 35

how do Freud and Skinner counter intuitionism

Answer 35

‘intuition ‘ is a product of schooling and parenting. it is not a mystical intuition.

Question 36

how does Hume counter intuitionism

Answer 36

Desires are subjective and drive us not intuition. so it cannot be reliable.

Question 37

what is a strength of intuitionism

Answer 37

there are a set of core moral principles shared in all society, this shows that there is some absolutist moral truth.

Question 38

F.H Bradley on Naturalism

Answer 38

‘it is the human self realisation that is the source of our motivation to be moral’ - morals are observable in the world and are shown through following social order.

Question 39

why does F.H Bradley criticise Utilitarianism

Answer 39

utilitarianism is too focused on individual happiness, ignoring that humans are part of a social group. so he does not like pleasure as a measure of Good.

Question 40

what are Stevensons types of Good

Answer 40

good can be descriptively good, such as a table is good for holding things, to dynamically good where one seeks to persuade