descriptive

• Bertrand Russel


  Father of mathematical symbol and logic
• Ludwig Wittgenstein


  Student of Bertrand Russel
• Alfred Jules Ayer


  Emotivist theory, "Language, truth, logic"
• Phenomenology existentialism


  Philosophical movement
• Edward Husserl


  Founder of phenomenology
• Martin Heidegger


  Student of Edward Husserl
• Jean-Paul Satre


  French Philosopher
• Soren Kierkegaard


  Father of Existentialism
• Meta-ethics


  The branch of ethics that studies the nature of morality
• Meta-ethics


  • Talks about the meaning, reference, and truth values of moral judgments
  • Explains what goodness and wickedness mean and how we know about them
• Cognitivism


  Moral judgments convey propositions; they are "truth bearers," or they are either true or false
• Non-cognitivism


  Denies that moral judgments are either true or false; claims that ethical sentences do not convey authentic propositions
• Emotivism


  The most popular form of non-cognitivist theory; submits that moral judgments are mere expressions of our emotions and feelings
• Moral realism


  Claims that the existence of moral facts and the truth (or falsity) of moral judgments are independent of people's thoughts and perceptions
• Ethical subjectivism


  Holds that the truth (or falsity) of ethical propositions is dependent on the attitudes or standards of a person or group of persons
• Moral universalism


  Theorizes that moral facts and principles apply to everybody in all places
• Moral relativism


  Submits that different moral facts and principles apply to different persons or groups of individuals
• Moral empiricism


  States that moral facts are known through observation and experience
• Moral rationalism


  Contends that moral facts and principles are knowable a priori, that is, by reason alone and without reference to experience
• Moral institutionalism


  States that moral truths are knowable by an institution, that is, by direct, intuitive knowledge without reference to experience
• Normative ethics


  Studies how humans ought to act, morally speaking; examines ethical norms, that is, those guidelines about what is right, worthwhile, virtuous, or just
• Deontology


  An ethical system that bases morality on independent moral rules or duties
• Teleology


  A moral system that determines the moral value of actions by their outcomes or results
• Virtue ethics


  A moral system that emphasizes developing good habits of character, like kindness and generosity, and avoiding bad character traits, or vices, such as greed or hatred