Meta-ethics

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What is meta-ethics?
The area of ethics that seeks to explore and discover the meaning of words used in ethical statements..
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Meta ethics is the discussion of ethical...
...statements.
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Also, whether ethical statements are useful or...
...valid.
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Meta-ethics analyses ethical language and seeks to understand the meaning of...
...moral judgements.
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What is normative ethics?
The area of ethics that deals with whether something is right or wrong.
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Meta-ethical statements deal with what it means to claim that...
...something is right or wrong.
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What is empirical evidence?
Information that is gained using sensory data.
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What is a cognitive statement?
A statement that is subject to being true or false.
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For example:
"The cat is asleep on the chair."
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What is a non-cognitive statement?
A sentence that is not subject to being true or false.
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For example:
"Ouch!"
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What is the name of a group who believe that ethical language can have a true meaning?
Cognitivists.
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Cognitivists believe that words we use can have meaning because they have a ...
...factual basis.
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What is the name of the group who disagree with the cognitivists and argue that ethical language cannot have a true meaning?
Non-cognitivists.
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They believe that ethical words cannot be meaningful because...
...they are not subject to truth or false.
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What is the name of the theory developed by the Vienna circle during the 1920s?
Logical positivism.
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Judging by the name of this theory, what type of theory would you say theirs is?
Scientific.
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Why do they believe that ethical statements cannot be verified or falsified?
They are neither analytic (True within themselves) or synthetic (true from experience).
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As statements have no empirical facts that can be checked to be true or false...
...they are meaningless in the eyes of the vienna circle.
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Excluding the Vienna circle, the name of another influential contributor to the language debate is...
...Wittgenstein.
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Finnish one of this most famous quotes: "From whereof we cannot speak...
...from thereof we must remain silent."
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Followers of Wittgenstein suggest that it is impossible to even discuss ethical theories at all before...
...we understand the terminology used.
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What is naturalism?
The belief that suggests that all things are knowable/provable using empirical experience.
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What is non-naturalism?
The belief that all things to do with meaning are knowable using intuition rather than empirical evidence.
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The only thing that naturalism and non-naturalism have in common is that...
...they are both cognitivist.
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According to Naturalism, how can the word good have meaning and be defined?
Good can have meaning if it is provable using empirical evidence.
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For example:
A good pen is one that we experience to be good at fufilling its purpose (a.k.a writing well).
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Ethical naturalists believe that in the same way we can say things are factually accurate using empirical data...
...we can do the same with ethical statements.
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Explain how this would apply to the issue of genetic research:
If we can empirically experience genetic research as doing something to save lives and curing diseases then we can say that it is good.
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Do non-naturalists believe that good can be defined?
No.
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Unlike the naturalist, they believe that good cannot be defined using...
...any type of natural experience.
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Good is not something that is found in things but..
..is a word that is used to describe an action/object.
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Who argued that good was a word that couldn't be defined/explained using a simpler word?
Moore.
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What did Moore compare defining the word good to?
Defining a colour.
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Explain how he did this:
Like the word good, we cannot define a colour although we can all recognise the colour when we come across it.
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Therefore, Moore concludes that the only way to understand goodness is...
...to provide an example to illustrate it.
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According to Moore, how can ethical language contain truth?
If it is made up of propositions that are shown to be true through objective features of the world and independent from human opinion.
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What two properties did he not consider not to be objective, natural features of the world?
Goodness and rightness.
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Why?
Because the goodness and rightness of something is not something that can be measured in a empirical manner.
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Therefore, why does Moore reject ethical naturalism?
This because ethical naturalism teaches that moral terms and properties can be reduced to the terms of non-moral properties.
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What did Moore's approach in non-naturalist ethics led to the emergence of?
Intuitionism.
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How do intuitionists claim that we can understand basic moral principles?
Using a special moral faculty called 'moral intuition.'
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This means that we know what is good when we...
...see it.
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He wrote about how he believed that good could be defined in his book called...
..."Principa ethica."
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Finish the quotation: "If I am asked 'what is good?' my answer is that...
...'good is good and that is the end of the matter.' Or if I am asked 'How is good to be defined?', my answer is that it cannot be defined and that is the end of the matter."
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What is the name of the philosopher who further developed Moore's ideas to say that it wasn't only goodness that was indefinable but obligation?
Pritchard.
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His evidence for this is...
...we will always know when we ought to do a certain act without necessarily having been taught.
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For Pritchard, intuitionism was the joining of reason and intuition to help people to...
...decide what to do based on facts.
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He also said that everyone had a different...
...intuition (some clearer than others).
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In a situation where moral obligation clashes, Pritchard suggested...
...that we carefully examine the situation using our reason and then, using our intuition, chose the greater obligation.
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What is the name of the philosopher that built on the work of Moore and Pritchard by agreeing that good and obligatory are intrinsically indefinable?
Ross.
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What does he mean when he says that a set of basic moral principles are apparent 'prima facie'?
By this, he means that a basic set of morals are immediately apparent.
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Whar are prima facie duties?
Primary duties that are immediately apparent.
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Ross tells us to obey the greatest...
...prima facie dutie.
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However, Ross didn't expand his theory to tell us...
...which dutie was greatest.
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What is emotivism?
The belief that the meaning of ethical language is not knowable as it only used as an expression of emotion.
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What is boo-hurrah theory?
Another word for emotivism.
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Emotivists believe that ethical statements are therefore...
...non-cognitive.
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What is evotivism?
The idea that the meaning of ethical language is not knowable as it is an expression of emotion.
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Who formulated emotivism?
Ayer.
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Why is the idea that ethical statements are just expressions of emotion potentially problematic?
As they do not express objective truth, they cannot be factually meaningful.
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For example:
Saying that a certain band is the best band in the world is not factally meaningful but showing preference and emotion subjective to someone.
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What is the name of the philosopher who built on the work of Ayer and looked at the emotive meaning of words and how they affect other people by their use?
Stevenson.
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Unlike Ayer, he didn't just believe that ethical statements were used to give emotional perspective but...
....persuade and influence others.
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How did Stevenson's approach give more meaning to moral disagreements?
Because although we express differences in fundamental beliefs and principles, we aim to persuade and influence others in the way we express these beliefs.
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What is the name of the philosopher Hare who's theory was built on the work of Ayer?
Prescriptivism.
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What is prescriptivism?
The idea that the meaning of ethical language is not knowable as it is a manner of prescribing a subjective belief or course of action.
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Like Stevenson, Hare believed that moral statements were more than just...
...expressions of persona values or emotions and were suggesting that other people should apply the same value/follow the same course of action in their lives.
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He argues that ethical language is intrinsically...
...prescriptive, implies what ought to be done and that it is universal.
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In simple terms, if it is correct for me, it must be correct for...
...you.
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Unlike Stevenson and Ayer, Hare disagreed with the subjective approaches to emotivism based on the fact that...
...ethical statements attempt to guide behaviour/actions which can permit logical tests for consistency.
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In short, he saw ethical statements as imperatives that must be consistent wtih...
...logic.
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Card 2

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Meta ethics is the discussion of ethical...

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Card 3

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Card 4

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Card 5

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