Meta Ethics

Non-cognitivism
1. Emotivism - Good cannot be defined; it's just an expression of emotion
  1. A.J. Ayer
    1. Ethical statements don't just express feelings. They are calculated to arouse feeling and to stimulate action.
    2. Ethical statements don't include any facts and therefore have no meaning (no verification through sensory experience)
    3. Created "Boo/Hurrah" theory
      1. Any truth claim only expresses feelings of "boo" or "hurrah" and can only be backed up/made meaningful with empirical fact
  2. C.L. Stevenson
    1. Ethical statements are subjective opinions that influence the views of others
    2. Ethical statements give approval or disapproval rather than just an emotive perspective
  3. Vienna Circle
    1. Emotivism originated from them - they developed logical positivism. This is the idea that truth claims must always be tested by a sense experience (verification)
2. Presriptivism - Good cannot be defined but can be prescribed
  1. R. M. Hare
    1. You cannot define words such as good/bad but can use them to prescribe behaviour
    2. Every ethical statement should prescribe universal behaviour
    3. The word 'good' has a descriptive meaning but is not a valid statement
  2. Comparison to Emotivism
    1. Where A.J. Ayer says "boo to stealing", Hare would say "boo to stealing" as well as "stealing is wrong because we wouldn't prescribe it for ourselves"
Cognitivism
1. Ethical naturalism - Good can be applied and applied
  1. Hedonic naturalists
    1. Goodness is something that leads to happiness and avoids pain
  2. F.H. Bradley
    1. Recognise what society needs and wants and then apply yourself to bring the best outcome
    2. Morals come from self-realisation and observation
    3. Your duty is to be good
  3. Theological naturalists
    1. Believe that goodness is linked to the will of God as seen in nature. What is natural is good
2. Intuitionism - Good cannot be defined but can be applied
  1. H.A. Prichard
    1. Moral obligations are evident because we all recognise what good is
    2. People having different morals just shows how mature your moral development is
    3. Intuitionism isn't something that everyone could use to define goodness
    4. Two types of thinking: reason or intuition. Intuition tells us what is right
  2. G.E. Moore
    1. Naturalistic fallacy = good cannot be defined but can be applied
    2. Intuitionism = adapted form of utilitarianism, suggesting that we can't use senses to say what is good - moral intuition shows us. Example of colour yellow
  3. W.D. Ross
    1. He was a deontologist - effects of actions show us if the action was right/good. Good actions are the Prima Facie duties
    2. Use intuition to choose which Prima Facie duty to follow when they conflict

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Meta Ethics

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	Created by Alice Storr about 8 years ago