Meta Ethics

Question 1

What is the motivation of meta ethics?

Answer 1

What do we mean by right and wrong and how can moral statements be justified?

Question 2

What does it mean if ethical values are cognitive?

Answer 2

Ethical statements are about facts and can be proved true or false

Question 3

What are the two schools of cognitive ethics?

Answer 3

Ethical naturalism

Ethical non naturalism

Question 4

What does it mean if ethical values are non cognitive?

Answer 4

Non factual

E.g. I think rape is wrong

Question 5

What is Hume’s fork?

Answer 5

Relations of ideas (necessary, analytic, a priori propositions)
Matters of fact (contingent, synthetic, a posteriori propositions)

Question 6

Do ethical statements fit into Humes fork?

Answer 6

No because they’re not observable

Question 7

What is a tautology?

Answer 7

the saying of the same thing twice over in different words

Question 8

How would bentham’s utilitarianism define good?

Answer 8

Hedonic calculus- reduce pain first then look at pleasure

Question 9

What would NML say about goodness?

Answer 9

Satisfaction and fulfilment come by following ones true essence

Question 10

What would SE say about goodness?

Answer 10

Those who comply with and display agape are morally good

Question 11

What does an ethical naturalist say about ethical facts?

Answer 11

It’s vitally important to hold that there are ethical facts about the world because otherwise we have no real justification for our actions

Question 12

What would VE say about goodness?

Answer 12

If an act contributes to the development of ones virtues it is moral

Question 13

What is ethical naturalism?

Answer 13

Moral values can be described in terms of natural properties; they can be discovered and understood

Question 14

Where does Moore criticise ethical naturalism?

Answer 14

Principia ethica

Question 15

What is Moore’s naturalistic fallacy?

Answer 15

Good shouldn’t be defined in terms of some natural property like pleasure
Goodness is simple and undefinable like yellow; can be recognised not defined

Question 16

Why is good not a natural property for Moore?

Answer 16

It can’t be experienced empirically unlike pain and joy

Question 17

What are the two ethical non naturalist theories?

Answer 17

Divine command theory and intuitionism

Question 18

Why is divine command theory non naturalist?

Answer 18

Because it holds that the source of morality isnt in nature at all but in a supernatural being- its theonomous

Question 19

What does supernatural mean?

Answer 19

Above the natural

Question 20

What does DCT argue?

Answer 20

Whatever god commands must be good and whatever he forbids must be evil
Humans made in gods image so there’s a link between creator and creation

Question 21

Strength of DCT: reward for following god

Answer 21

Gods moral commands linked with the promise of life after death

Question 22

Strength of DCT: it is clear

Answer 22

Gods commands must be right as he is the god of classical theism

Question 23

Strength of DCT: universal

Answer 23

The rules are right for all times and places

Question 24

Strength of DCT: god as a fair judge

Answer 24

God doesn’t have human weakness so is totally aware of people’s good and bad deeds

Question 25

Weakness of DCT: bible contains immoral commands

Answer 25

Homosexuality: ‘they shall be put to death’

Question 26

Weakness of DCT: no autonomy

Answer 26

Doesn’t offer free choice to be morally good Morality should be based on reason not religious belief Pascal’s wager: belief in god is a ‘good bet’

Question 27

Weakness of DCT: euthyphro dilemma

Answer 27

God commands the slaughter of innocent children so are His commands right because they’re in scripture? If there’s a moral law external to god, he loses omnipotence

Question 28

Socrates quote

Answer 28

‘Is behaviour right because the gods command it, or do the gods command it because it is right’- Socrates

Question 29

How is intuitionism a replacement for ethical naturalism?

Answer 29

Morality is intuited; can’t be proved empirically

Question 30

What is a simple vs complex idea?

Answer 30

Simple- can’t be described. E.g. yellow | Complex- can be described. E.g. horse

Question 31

Why is good a simple idea?

Answer 31

What is intrinsically good can’t be defined

Question 32

What is Moore’s open question argument?

Answer 32

Ethical questions are open; don’t have a definitive answer | Closed questions are logical

Question 33

Strength of intuitionism: gets around the problem caused by ethical naturalism

Answer 33

Avoids the problems of identifying ethics with a natural property We interpret morality through a sense rather than a list of moral definitions

Question 34

Strength of intuitionism: universal ability of intuition

Answer 34

Common consensus on moral issues

Question 35

Weakness of intuitionism: how does it work?

Answer 35

Is it a gut feeling? Gods direction? How can we be sure our intuitions are correct?

Question 36

Weakness of intuitionism: unconscious influence of society governs intuitions

Answer 36

Intuitionism could be the influence society has on us

Question 37

Weakness of intuitionism: it may lead to non cognitivism

Answer 37

Ethical statements are personal views; too subjective

Question 38

How is ethical non cognitivism different from naturalism and non naturalism?

Answer 38

Ethical values are opinions not facts that can be investigated

Question 39

How does Ayer criticise ethical statements?

Answer 39

Statements that can’t be be verified or falsified are meaningless

Question 40

In what way are Hume and Ayer suggesting similar ideas about what we know?

Answer 40

We can’t know the truth about ethical statements as they can’t be verified synthetically or analytically

Question 41

What is Ayers emotivism?

Answer 41

Morality is about subjective emotions. Moral statements are of approval or disapproval. They’re meaningless if they don’t fit into Humes fork. Rules and guidelines are a matter of convention

Question 42

What is Hare’s prescriptivism?

Answer 42

We try to prescribe to others our moral opinion

Question 43

What is hume’s is ought gap?

Answer 43

One can’t move from a factual statement about the world to a moral value Ought statements don’t fit into the fork The complete separation of is and ought is Humes guillotine

Question 44

Quote from Moore

Answer 44

‘Good is good ... it cannot be defined’

Question 45

Dawkins quote

Answer 45

‘The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction’

Question 46

What does Dawkins think about faith?

Answer 46

It is one of the world’s greatest evils as it is belief without evidence

Question 47

What is alistair McGrath’s idea on transcendentalising?

Answer 47

It is human nature to transcendentalise values

Question 48

What is calvins stance on DCT?

Answer 48

‘The will of god is the supreme rule of righteousness’ | To challenge gods will is an impossibility

Question 49

Quote from Ayer

Answer 49

Moral statements are ‘emotional ejaculations’

Question 50

Quote from Bentham

Answer 50

‘Nature has placed mankind under the governance of 2 sovereign masters, pain and pleasure’

Question 51

What is benthams act utilitarianism?

Answer 51

Pain and pleasure directs us Pleasure is the one intrinsic good and pain the one intrinsic evil We seek to maximise pleasure and minimise pain. We can calculate happiness with hedonic calculus Pleasure can come from push penny or opera

Question 52

What is Mill’s rule utilitarianism?

Answer 52

Higher intellectual pleasures and lower physical ones Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied Happiness is superior to pleasure (H involves longevity and P instant gratification)

Question 53

Roger crisp

Answer 53

All pleasures aren’t equal | Eternal oyster or mortal Haydn