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OCR Religious Studies > Meta Ethics > Flashcards

Meta Ethics Flashcards

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1
Q

How does meta-ethics differ from normative ethics?

A

It asks questions about how we use ethics itself rather than making ethical claims.

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2
Q

What is naturalism?

A

The belief that values can be defined through observation of the world around us it can be proved empirically

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3
Q

What is intuitionism?

A

The belief that basic moral truths are indefinable but self-evident

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4
Q

Which scholars follow intuitionism?

A

G.E Moore

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5
Q

What is Moore’s quote for intuitionism?

A

it is a simple perception of a non-natural, simple property, like yellow

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6
Q

What is emotivism?

A

The belief that ethical terms only evince approval or disapproval they are based on feelings - there are no moral facts

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7
Q

Which scholars follow ethical emotivism?

A

Ayer

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8
Q

What is Ayer’s quote about emotivism?

A

ethical statements are mere ejaculations of emotions

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9
Q

What else can Ayer’s emotivism theory be called?

A

The ‘yah-boo’ theory

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10
Q

What is prescriptivism?

A

The theory that ethical statements are both prescriptive and universal in their nature. They do not state facts and are not true or false

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11
Q

Who argues for prescriptivism?

A

Hare

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12
Q

What is an example of prescriptivism? (Use quotes)

A

The idea that statements like “suicide is wrong” is actually trying to say “do not commit suicide” and trying to prescribe this view to others

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13
Q

What is moral realism?

A

The belief that right and wrong actually exist; the are real properties

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14
Q

What is cognivitism?

A

The belief that moral statements are subject to being either true or false

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15
Q

What is the divine command theory?

A

The view that morality is somehow dependant upon God and that moral obligation consists in obedience to God’s commands.

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16
Q

What are some examples that align with divine command theory?

A

God gave Moses the 10 commandments

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17
Q

What is Kant’s quote about the divine command theory?

A

we must believe that God exists because the requirements of morality are too much for us to bear

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18
Q

What is the euthryphro dilemma?

A
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19
Q

The debate whether things are good because God thinks so

A

or God thinks they are good because they are:

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20
Q

Does God love it because it is good, or is it good because God loves it

A
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21
Q

Which scholars follow ethical naturalism?

A
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22
Q

Aquinas

A

Bentham

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23
Q

What does Aquinas think about ethical naturalism?

A
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24
Q

That the world has a god-given order built into it. Moral values can be worked out by understanding our God-given purpose and observing the natural order.

A
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25
What does F.H.Bradley argue about ethical naturalism?
26
He argued it is possible to understand our moral duties by observing our position or station in life - this is a bit outdated with Victorian class divisions
but cold be applied to roles such as teacher
27
What is F.H.Bradley's quote?
28
What he has to do depends on what his place is, what his function is, and that all comes from his station in the organism.
29
What do Bentham and Mill argue about ethical naturalism?
30
From a utilitarian viewpoint
they argue we can discover right and wrong by discovering which actions lead to pleasure or pain e.g. we can see that stabbing someone creates pain
31
Do naturalism and absolutism overlap?
32
Yes
naturalists are mostly absolutist (e.g. Aquinas) but a more relativist side could be used too (e.g. util)
33
Who objects naturalism?
34
David Hume
35
What does David Hume argue against naturalism?
36
The "is/ought" problem (or the "fact-value distinction") - when we make moral claims we tend to use phrases like "you ought to"
showing how no matter how closely we examine a situation
37
What is a weakness of natural law linking to meta ethics?
38
Aquinas' natural law relies on a naturalist viewpoint
assuming telos is built into the universe etc
39
What does non-cognitivist mean?
40
The belief that moral statements are not subject to truth or falsity
41
What is logical positivism?
42
An idea developed by members of the Vienna Circle which considered philosophical analysis to be the way to determine whether an idea is meaningful
43
What did logical positivists say about the verification principle?
44
They suggest that statements are only meaningful is they are analytical statements (true by definition e.g. water boils at 100 degrees) or are synthetic statements (verified by the senses)
45
What does verification mean for meta ethics?
46
When observing the facts of a situation
there is no way to see the rightness or wrongness
47
Hume's quote about verification principle
48
The vice entirely escapes you, as long as you consider the object
49
Was hume an emotivist?
50
Yes
51
What did A.J.Ayer say about emotivism?
52
He argued that statements are only meaningful if we are able to say how we could verify them e.g. "the grass is green" - moral statements aren't logical and cant be proven
so they are factually meaningless
53
What does A.J.Ayer think moral statements actually are?
54
They are just statements that show emotional states or feelings about issues. The words "right" and "wrong" dont add anything
they merely convey approval or disapproval
55
A.J.Ayer's quote about ethical statements
56
The presence of an ethical symbol in a proposition adds nothing to its factual content. Thus if I say to someone "you acted wrongly in stealing that money", i am not saying anything more than if i had simply said "you stole that money".
57
What does "evince" mean? (A.J.Ayer's word)
58
It explains how ethical statements show an emotional state. It doesn't mean the same thing as expressing
as he notes how we may or may not actually feel the emotion that our words indicate.
59
What is moral anti-realism?
60
The belief that right and wrong do not actually exist; ethics do not actually exist; ethics is a matter of opinion
61
Is intuitionism a moral realist theory?
62
Yes
they believe that right and wrong actually exist
63
What did G.E.Moore say about intuitionism?
64
He argued for it
suggesting that "good" or "bad" is self-evident in our intuition.
65
What example did Moore use?
66
The colour yellow - we cant explain it or describe it
but can point to things that are yellow. In a similar way
67
What is the naturalistic fallacy?
68
Moore's criticism of naturalism - he argued that the fact we can ask if things like pleasure are "good" and answer "no" shows that things like these aren't the same as good.
69
What did Moore make a distinction between?
70
Simple and complex things:
71
Complex things are things such as horse
it can be broken down into parts
72
Simple things cant be broken down such as yellow or goodness.
73
What does JJ Mackie criticise about intuitionism?
74
The 'argument from queerness' - he argues that if there were objective morals in the world
they would be more obvious and jump out at us
75
What is JJ Mackie's quote criticising intuitionism?
76
if there were objective values, they would be entities or qualities or relations of a very strange sort, utterly different from anything else in the universe
77
What is error theory?
78
The view that there are no moral features in this world; nothing is right or wrong. Therefore no moral judgements are true - our sincere moral judgements try
but always fail to describe the moral features of things
79
What is the idea observer theory?
80
The idea that ethical statements should align with a rational
healthy

OCR Religious Studies (12 decks)

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