evaluation of naturalism

• strengths of naturalism:

  • ethical propositions are true because they are factual
  • right/wrong are objective
  • ethical propositions can give us solid guidelines + rules to follow
  • we can be judged by our compliance with rules
  • most people follow naturalist theories anyway - knowingly or not
• weaknesses of naturalism:

  • rejected by ethical non-cognitives due to the claim that ethical propositions are factual e.g. Ayer
  • naturalistic fallacy: 'is' does not lead to 'ought'; we cannot derive moral values from facts
  • Moore argued that good is undefinable: 'Open Question' argument