Meta Ethics

Meta Ethics

1. cognitivism

   • ethical naturalism- this is giving good a natural property, ethical statements are factual and can be verified
   • intuitionism
     • G E Moore- good is a simple property like yellow. people can recognise goodness when they see it. we can use our moral intuition to say whether a moral statement is true or false
     • H. A. Pritchard- we recognise goodness. we can use reason and intuition of figure it out. some people had developed their moral thinking more then others and this is why there are ethical disagreements
     • W.D Ross- it was obvious where our duties lie. he gave a list of prima facie duties. Fidelity. Reparation. Gratitude. Justice. Beneficence. Self- Improvement. non Maleficence. if the duties conflict we always know which one to pick

2. Non- cognitivism

   • Emotivism
     • A.J Ayer- moral statements cannot be verified. therefore they can be nothing more then emotions
       • James Rachels- where morality is concerned there can be no right or wrong
     • Stevenson- moral terms are descriptive and emotive. when we hear the word steal it invokes a feeling within us. it is also trying to influence someone elses attitudes. THEY ARE BASED ON EXPERIENCES
   • perscriptivism
     • Hare- attempted to show that ethical language is prescriptive and the role of ethical statements is to say what ought to be done. They are moral because they are universal. It is not based on truth but it aims to get everyone to do the same in similar situations