Naturalism and Non-Naturalism
- Created by: Emily Uffindell
- Created on: 02-10-14 20:24
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- Naturalism and Non-Naturalism
- These are both cognitivist approaches (They both belief that religious statements can have meaning).
- However, they differ in their theories of why this is true.
- Naturalism: The belief that suggests that all things are provable using empirical evidence.
- Anything that is proved using one or more of the five senses is referred to as empirical data.
- In the same way that we can say that things are factually accurate using empirical data, we can also use ethical statements and say that they are accurate using empirical evidence.
- Non-naturalism: The belief that all things to do with meaning are knowable using intuition rather than empirical evidence.
- In the non-naturalist approach, "good," is something that cannot be defined by any type of natural experience.
- Good isn't something found in things, but instead is used to describe an action or an object.
- Moore
- He likens the process of defining the word 'good,' to defining colour.
- (We cannot define a colour in words but we all have a sense of what this colour is.)
- He believed that the only way to define 'good,' was to find a way to illustrate it.
- "If I am asked 'How is good to be defined?' my answer is that it cannot be defined, and that is all I have to say about that."
- Prichard developed Moore's ideas and said that it wasn't only goodness that was indefinable but also the idea of obligation.
- We will always know what we ought to do for a certain act.
- (In the same way that goodness is recognised by example, so are our obligations.)
- For him, Intuitionism was the joining of reason and human reason to help people decide what to do based on facts.
- W.D Ross Built on the work of Moore and Pritchard and agreed that "good," and "obligatory," are intrinsically indefinable.
- A set of basic moral principles are apparent "prima facie," (at first appearance).
- Prima facie duties: Primary duties that are apparent to everyone.
- They must be followed unless a greater obligation exists.
- Prima facie duties: Primary duties that are apparent to everyone.
- Our intuition identifies our prima face duties.
- Our moral decisions are therefore based on our intuition.
- However, he doesn't expand this theory to tell us which duties are the greater ones.
- Our moral decisions are therefore based on our intuition.
- A set of basic moral principles are apparent "prima facie," (at first appearance).
- We will always know what we ought to do for a certain act.
- Prichard developed Moore's ideas and said that it wasn't only goodness that was indefinable but also the idea of obligation.
- "If I am asked 'How is good to be defined?' my answer is that it cannot be defined, and that is all I have to say about that."
- He rejects ethical naturalism because it teaches that moral properties can be reduced to the terms of non-moral properties.
- His approach of non-naturalism lead to the emergence of "intuitionism."
- Definition: A theory that ethical and moral truths are understood by intuition.
- Intuitionists claim that we can understand basic moral principles using a special faculty called "moral intuition."
- We recognise "good," when we see it (we just know that something is good.)
- "If I am asked 'what is good?' my answer is that good is good and that is the end of the matter."
- He likens the process of defining the word 'good,' to defining colour.
- In the non-naturalist approach, "good," is something that cannot be defined by any type of natural experience.
- These are both cognitivist approaches (They both belief that religious statements can have meaning).
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