Meta-Ethics

• Descriptive ethics

  - Describes and compares the ethical norms in different societies.
• Normative ethics

  - What is morally right or wrong.

  - Recommend how we should behave.
• Applied ethics

  - Applying normative principles to arguments and to particular areas.
• Meta-ethics

  - Questions the nature and purpose of morality.

  - What is the meaning of ethical language? What does 'good' or 'bad' mean?
• First order questions

  - Raised by normative ethics.

  - They ask how we should behave and what we should do.
• Second order questions

  - Meta-ethical questions which ask about the nature and purpose of morality.
• Ethical statement

  - Considers what is means to claim something is right or wrong.
• What is 'good'? : Ethical naturalism + non-naturalism

  - Argue moral claims are about facts.

  - They are both cognitive theories.
• What is 'good'? - Ethical non-cognitivism

  - Moral claims seem to describe the world, but are actually expressions of our wishes, intentions or prescriptions.
• Cognitive + non-cognitive theories

  - Cognitive theories explain moral language in terms of what moral facts we can know.
• Non-cognitivism

  - Non-cognitive theories holds that we cannot know moral facts at all, it therefore tries to find an alternative basis for moral claims (such as our own wishes and intentions).
• Realism

  - Realist understandings of the world say that scientific theories can give us true descriptions of the world - we can have knowledge of things (similar to ethical cognitivism which states that there are moral facts).
• Non-realism

  - Non-realism denies we can have knowledge of any facts - all phenomena is observed by our senses and the mind (similar to ethical non-cognitivism which rejects the notion that we can know moral facts).
• Divine Command Theory

  - God put laws and rules in place for his creation to follow.

  - Things are good because God commands them.

  - Meta-ethically, it is the non-natural view that morality is defined by God's commands, revealed through scripture and the Church.
• Secular ethics

  - Non-religious ethics.

  - Based on moral intuition, or a general view of values by which people should live by, such as Virtue Ethics or Utilitarianism.

  - Secular moral arguments aim to appeal to everyone, on the basis of shared experience and reason.
• Why do secular and religious people turn to different authorities?

  - Religious people believe in God, and therefore religious people turn to religious sources of authority.

  - They believe that there is a God whose wish it is that people should behave in certain ways.

  - Obedience to God's will is clear as he sets down particular rules.

  - e.g. Moses was coming down a mountain and was instructed by God to write the law on tablets of stone.

  - This shows that obeying the will of God is a key feature in deciding right or wrong for a religious believer.

  - All ethical decisions are made in light of how God's moral law should be applied to a situation.
• How can we know exactly what God commands or forbids?

  - Many religions disagree, even denominations within religions disagree.

  - e.g. Buddhists and Hindus would not agree with eating meat since it goes against ahimsa - non violence. Whereas other religions approve of meat-eating and would say there are specific laws which say how animals are to be treated: kosher and halal rules.
• Fundamental principle of DCT-

  - Religious people should act in a way that reflects the will of God for them, as they best understand it.

  - God commands what is good because God is the source of all goodness, and what he forbids must be evil.
• The features of DCT

  - God is all powerful and so has total freedom to do whatever he wishes. He is the creator of everything.

  - God chooses not to act unfairly, because that would be inconsistent with his nature.

  - Therefore, God orders the universe by his Divine Law.

  - Humans were created in God's image, so we are God-like and have a moral, rational character.

  - Therefore, human moral behaviour should be governed by God's law, and humans, being powerless, should obey God's law.

  - For protestants who follow sola scriptura - God's commands are revealed in scripture.
• John Calvin uses DCT to justify his view on predestination

  - Key theological argument is that God cannot be 'caused' to do anything.

  - That would imply that there is a force external to God whereas God is believed to be omnipotent.

  - Also, to question God's will is to ask for something greater.

  - Therefore, for Calvin, the DCT is the natural result of the absolute power and sovereignty of God.
• Karl Barth

  - Man's obedience to God is the answer to all questions about ethics.

  - The commands of God set Christian ethics totally apart from general discussions about what is good or right and totally over-ride fallible human debate on moral principles.

  - Christians should follow God's commands in order to be good.
• Advantages of DCT: Universal

  - The moral maxims expressed by DCT are universal. This means they apply to everyone at all times - God does not change his mind. We have an absolute moral standard.
• Advantages of DCT: Proof

  - Offers a means of proof concerning what is right or wrong.

  - Moral dilemmas can be assessed using God's will. e.g. the Bible.
• Advantages of DCT: Justice

  - Offers a sense of justice.

  - God sees everything, therefore nobody gets away with wrongdoing.

  - The after-life is means of justice, reward and punishment.
• Advantages of DCT: Motive

  - Offers a motive to do good and avoid evil - the afterlife, e.g. heaven, hell, purgatory.
• Disadvantages of DCT: Uncertainty

  - The existence of God cannot be certain.

  - Raises doubts about DCT.
• Disadvantages of DCT: Which is His will?

  - Living in a multi-faith society, there is a plurality of religions.

  - We cannot know which faith is true.

  - God has revealed his commands in sacred scripture, but which is correct, the Bible, Qur'an, Torah?
• Disadvantages of DCT: Interpretation

  - How do we interpret the Holy Book?
• Disadvantages of DCT: The Euthypro Dilemma

  - Written by Plato, raises two questions:

  A) Does God command things because they are good?

  B) Are they good because God commands them?

  - If A is accepted, then the 'U-turn' problem arises. If God commands things because they are good, then they must have already been good prior to God commanding them, their goodness therefore had an independent source other than God's will. Does this have implications for God's omnipotence?

  - If B is accepted, could the problem of 'silly morals' arise? If God could make anything good, He could command anything to be good.
• Naturalism

  - Moral values can be described in terms of natural properties (such as love or happiness).

  - Naturalist ethical theories are realist: naturalism is grounded in the facts of nature or human nature.

  - They exist and can be described, so it is possible to discover and understand them.

  - Meta-ethically, an ethical naturalist will argue that it is vitally important to hold that there are ethical facts about the world, because otherwise we have no real justification for our actions.
• Utilitarianism as a naturalist theory

  - It holds ethical values that are factual - they are facts about pain and pleasure - therefore we should do whatever brings about the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
• Situation ethics as a naturalist theory

  - The moral facts are about agape.
• Natural Moral Law as a naturalist theory

  - Satisfaction and fulfilment come from following your true essence, the right thing to do relates to what reason judges to be the natural or essential feature of an action.
• Virtue ethics as a naturalist theory

  - The moral facts are about eudaimonia.
• Characteristics of naturalistic theories

  - They often talk about some intrinsic good and see this as self-evident.

  - Often use 'goods' to create rules: do the most loving thing, bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number, find the golden mean and act virtuously, follow the five precepts to achieve eudaimonia.

  - You are morally good for following these rules.

  - They are ethical facts about the world, otherwise we have no real justification for our actions.
• Bentham's Utilitarianism

  - Bentham identifies a scientific human behaviour and an ethical theory.

  - Pain and pleasure rule us, and this determines what we 'ought' to do.

  - Pleasure is the one intrinsic good for Bentham and pain is the one intrinsic evil.

  - Here, morality is linked to observation and experience, the very essence of ethical naturalism.
• Mill's development of Utilitarianism

  - Like Bentham, he agreed that happiness is most effectively gained when individuals are free to pursue their own ends.

  - Mill agrees with the Principle of Utility (i.e. the greatest happiness for the greatest number) but was concerned by the difficulty raised by the example of the sadistic guards.
• What Mill thought

  - Rejected the idea that someone should experience pain just for others to feel more pleasure.

  - He focused on qualitative pleasures, and said these are 'higher' cultural and intellectual pleasures, and these should be preferred to the 'lower' physical ones.

  - "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied".

  - Mill regards pleasures of the mind as higher than pleasures of the body.
• Mill is an ethical naturalist

  - He describes happiness (and therefore good) in terms of the quality rather than the quantity of pleasure.

  - This involves not just physical pleasures but intellectual ones.

  - Mill thinks we should generally follow rules or principles - such as ones we have developed naturally like not stealing, lying or murdering as this benefits society and brings about an overall balance of pleasure over pain.
• Strengths of Utilitarianism

  - It gives a factual basis for morality.

  - Utilitarians have guidelines and rules - e.g. Bentham's hedonic calculus where pleasure is measured by intensity, duration, proximity, productiveness, purity and extent.

  - It gives us a way of measuring the moral worth of people - whether or not they seek to maximise happiness and minimise pain.

  - Utilitarian is a practical system - UK politics is broadly Utilitarianism in character.

  - If you ask people what they want, most will say happiness.