ethical naturalism

• Aquinas was a theological naturalist

  • we can work out right and wrong through the observation of the natural world and using our reason - links to natural moral law
  • but he said that this reason is God-given and that goodness comes from the will of God
• Key thinkers - EN

  F.H Bradley

  • our duty is universal and concrete - objective and absolute
  • our social position and order decides our moral duties - duty to society
  • we all have moral consciousness - sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the good of society
  • morals are an observable part of the concrete world

  links to natural moral law - morals and ethics can be seen world
• Key thinkers - EN

  Philippa Foot

  • we can observe morality when we see people's behaviour

  when we call someone a 'good' or 'honest' person, it is based on our observations of their behaviour

  virtues can be observed by watching how a person acts

  e.g. honest person does honest things, which can be observed

  we can perceive moral absolutes

  if we see a sturdy/ good oak tree then we can assume that it has strong/ healthy roots (within) - the outward is a sign of the virtue within

  • moral evil is 'a kind of defect'
  • trust is important in human communities
• Hume's criticisms of EN

  Hume's Law - we cannot derive an "ought" from an "is"

  • we can see what there is (observation) but this does not provide us with justification to move from what is to an ought - we have no prescription on what to do as a result of the fact that we know (what is)

  eg

  P1: All men are mortal

  P2: Socrates is a man

  C: Therefore Socrates is mortal

  from this conclusion new cannot now jump and assume that Socrates has value (because he is a man) - this is a completely new relationship between words that has no justification
• Hume's criticisms of EN

  moral claims = derived from sentiment not reason

  • morals are about the sentiment of the observer and excite passions and produce or prevent actions
  • moral judgements are like judgments about heat, sound or colour - come from perceptions and are not facts in themselves
  • the rules of morality are not a result of applying our reason

  COUNTER: trivialises right and wrong/ moral claims as merely emotional reactions - no objective facts about right and wrong

  • surely some things are objectively right/wrong?
  • implications for laws and the legal system
• Criticisms of EN

  MACKIE = naturalist

  • possible to describe an institution from the inside
  • the institution has rules not to break a promise so the injunction not to break promises depends on the rules of the institution
  • the rules are not concrete facts but are accepted in varying degrees by all those inside the institution
  • following the rules of an institution is not the same as acting logically in response to agreed upon facts - it is responding to an understanding of the demands of the rules

  moral rules = observable but are based on tradition rather than being absolute contructs
• Criticism of EN 


  naturalistic fallacy - it is an error to define an ethical judgement as a statement of fact/ in naturalistic terms - G.E Moore

  • it is a mistake to define good in naturalistic terms
  • goodness cannot be grasped by being observed
  • good intrinsically exists - it is indefinable

  if we try to define good by saying it is the thing that gives us the pleasure then we have broken down good into something else - good is good
• Key points EN

  moral language is an objective fact - fixed features of the universe -

  • we can establish facts empirically - just like in science
  • goodness can be found within the natural world - a posteriori - observations of the world
  • it is an absolutist theory - good and evil = absolute facts of the world
  • the source of moral objectivity is not found in God or invented by humans but in nature and reality
  • we can tell right and wrong by looking at the world and using our reason
  • All ethical statements can be translated into non-ethical ones, i.e. into verifiable factual statements
• link to conscience 


  Aquinas’ idea of the conscience/ ability to reason - innate ratio

  Ratio - God-given within us - use it with observation of the world to decide the right thing to do - empircal world (naturalistic terms) - conscientia (process)

  • all goodness comes from the goodness and perfection of God - therefore is objective - God is unchanging - so goodness also must be objective