evaluation of intuitionism

• strengths of intuitionism:

  • everyone has moral intuitions + we use them to underpin our moral decisions
  • intuitionism solves the problem faced by ethical naturalism, that there are so many conflicting definitions of good that they cannot all be correct
  • still a form of realism - statements can be true or false + it is realistic in explaining that our moral intuitions are not perfect because every moral situation is different
• weaknesses of intuitionism:

  • doesn't give a satisfactory answer as to how we have moral intuitions
  • intuition is a weak basis to argue
  • could boil down to the unconscious influence of social norms e.g. 18th century 'intuited' that slavery was right
  • may lead to ethical non-cognitivism - gives unsatisfactory amount of importance on moral views
  • Moore's 'Open Question' argument doesn't destroy naturalism - neo-naturalism argues there is no naturalistic fallacy
  • human flourishing provides is with reasoning to fill the is-ought gap