REVISION: Ethical Language – "META-ETHICS"

Revision notes for A-level Religious Studies (OCR)

Four pages

ETHICAL LANGUAGE – META-ETHICS

Definition
Do mind-independent moral properties exist?
Moral realism
Moral anti-realism
Cognitivism
True/false statements
Non-cognitivism
Grounding problem

NATURALISM
Cognitivist + realist
Fixed absolutes
F.H. BRADLEY
Concrete absolute reality
Moral perspective
Self-realisation
Observation

Criticism
DAVID HUME
Empiricist challenge
Reason vs emotion
Moral good + evil
Hume’s Law
Moral ‘ought’ statements
Factual ‘is’ statements
Non-cognitive vs cognitive
PHILIPPA FOOT
Virtue ethics
Moral rules
‘Natural goodness’
J.L. MACKIE
Anti-realism
Moral rules
Tradition
Variations between cultures

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES
Moral nihilism
Verification
Tautologies
Open question argument
Non-moral property

INTUITIONISM

G.E. MOORE
NON-NATURALISM
Intuition
Intrinsic good
Non-natural property
Naturalistic fallacy
Closed vs open questions
H.A. PRICHARD
Moral obligations
Duty
Moral vocabulary
W.D. ROSS
Conflicting duties
Prima facie duties
Overriding obligation
Seven foundational prima facie duties

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
Argument from queerness
Cultural relativism

EMOTIVISM

Approval vs disapproval
DAVID HUME
MORAL JUDGEMENTS MOTIVATE ACTION
HUME’S FORK
A.J. AYER
Three kinds of knowledge
ANALYTIC JUDGEMENTS
SYNTHETIC JUDGEMENTS
MORAL JUDGEMENTS
Judgements of value
Utterances of preference
C.L. STEVENSON
Attitude relative to fundamental belief
Persuasion
Approval/disapproval

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
Quantify goodness/pleasure
Foot’s moral realism
Moral diversity
Moral nihilism
Changing moral views
Moral progress
Embedding problem

Key issues:
What is meant by ‘good’
Meaningful vs meaningless