MP : Meta-ethics

• What is Meta ethics about?

  what moral judgements mean and what makes them true or false
• What is the 2 main debates in meta ethics

  • whether mind independent moral properties exist or not
  • what moral judgements mean
• what is moral realism 


  there are mind independent, external moral properties and facts. e.g "murder is wrong" is a moral fact because the act of murder has the moral property of wrongness
• what does realism argue for

  moral properties like "good" "bad" "right" "wrong" exist
• what is the disagreement amongst realists

  what moral properties actually are; natural or non natural
• what is ethical naturalism

  Ethical naturalism is the belief that moral judgements are intended to be true or false and moral properties are natural/exist. Being a natural property is something that is a posteriori, empirically discovered.
• Utilitarianism as naturalism 


  "good" can be reduced to pleasure, and "bad" can be reduced to pain. Pain and pleasure are natural properties of the brain, so utilitarianism is a naturalist theory
• Mills proof of utilitarianism for naturalism

  Mill argues that happiness is not only good, it is the ONLY good. Everything else like freedom etc are under happiness. Mills says that everyone desires happiness, without any proof why, proving that it is a good thing. Everything else we value, is because it makes us happy, therefore happiness is the only good
• Summary of Realism

  • Realist theories
  • Ethical naturalism
  • Utilitarianism as naturalism
  • Mill’s ‘proof’ of utilitarianism
  • Virtue ethics as naturalism
  • Problems for naturalism
  • Ethical non-naturalism
  • G.E. Moore: Principia Ethica
  • Naturalistic fallacy
  • The open question argument
  • Intuitionism
  • Problems for non-naturalism
• Virtue ethics as naturalism

  Aristotle ergon/arete can be interepreted as a natural fact because it is a natural fact that humans use reason.
• Problems for naturalism: naturalistic fallacy


  Moore describes it a fallacy to equate some goodness to a natural fact (e.g pleasure/pain). e.g moore would say its a fallacy to conclude that drinking beer is good because it leads to pleasure and pleasure equates to goodness. Naturalistic fallacy says moore's utilitarianism as naturalism fails.
• How does The Verification principle reject naturalism

  Ayer says that "murder is wrong" is not an analytic truth nor is it empirically verifiable. Naturalists would respond that we can prove it causes anger, pain etc however ayer would say this does not prove it is wrong and therefore rejects naturalism
• What is non naturalism

  The belief that moral judgements are intended to be true or false and believe in the existence of moral properties, but they are non natural
• what does non natural mean

  Those that are not a part of the natural world, not empirically verifiable. These properties are often moral or aesthetic like "goodness" because this can't empirically be measured or observed
• How does Naturalistic fallacy back up non naturalism

  It backs up non naturalism because Moore is essentially trying to explain that you can't call a moral property natural because you believe it reduces to something natural or empirically verifiable e.g pleasure = good. these two don't link. Pleasure is empirically verifiable where good isn't
• How does the open question argument refute naturalism

  Moore says that if pleasure and good were the same thing, it would be a closed question. A closed question is a question that requires a specific answer e.g yes/no. If pleasure and good were the same thing it would be equivalent to asking "is pleasure pleasure" or "is good good". It wouldn't be an open question like "is pleasure good"
• what can be a reply to Moore's open question arguement

  Just because "is pleasure good" is an open question does not guarantee that they aren't the same thing. There are many open questions but they are the same thing e.g "is water h2o". This is an open question but we know for a fact its the same thing.
• what is Moore's own version of non naturalism


  Intuitionism, Moore creates his own version of non naturalism to explain how non natural properties are discovered. He says its through intuition. HE argues that the faculty of rational intuition is enough to directly reflect on the truth of moral intuitionism
• Summary of Realism

  • Ethical naturalism
  • Utilitarianism as naturalism
  • Mills "proof" of utilitarianism
  • Virtue ethics as naturalism
  • Ethical non naturalism
  • Naturalistic fallacy
  • Open question argument
  • Intuitionism
• What is the main focus of Aristotle's virtue ethics?

  To reason and achieve eudaimonia

  
• How does Aristotle define virtues?

  Character traits that enable fulfilling ergon
• What is eudaimonia in Aristotle's virtue ethics?

  The ultimate goal of a virtuous person

  
• What dilemma might a judge face according to Aristotle's virtue ethics?

  Choosing between justice and mercy
• What does Aristotle say about conflicts between virtues?

  They are impossible due to virtue flexibility
• How might a virtuous judge apply phronesis?

  By balancing justice and mercy appropriately
• What is the difference between moral good and eudaimonia according to Aristotle?

  Eudaimonia includes more than just morality

  
• What example illustrates the difference between moral good and eudaimonia?

  A nurse who saves lives but is unhappy
• What objections can be made against Aristotle's theory regarding moral good and eudaimonia?

  It fails to account for self-interest

  
• How does Aristotle respond to the objection about moral good and eudaimonia?

  He focuses on the good life in general

  
• What virtues does Aristotle consider important for achieving eudaimonia?

  Fairness, kindness, and generosity

  
• What is metaethics concerned with?

  The meaning of moral judgments and their truth

  
• What are the two main debates in metaethics?

  Existence of moral properties and meaning of judgments
• What is moral realism?

  Existence of mind-independent moral properties
• What is moral anti-realism?

  No mind-independent moral properties exist
• What does cognitivism assert about moral judgments?

  They express beliefs that can be true or false
• What does non-cognitivism claim about moral judgments?

  They express non-cognitive mental states

  
• What are the two types of moral realist theories?

  Moral naturalism and moral non-naturalism
• How does moral naturalism define moral properties?

  As natural properties that can be reduced
• What is utilitarian moral naturalism?

  Good reduces to pleasure, bad to pain

  
• What is Mill's proof of utilitarianism about?

  Happiness is the only good