Ethics year 1 and 2
Meta-ethics
Applied ethics • Applying normative principles and arguments to particular areas, for example
medical ethics, animal ethics, business ethics, legal ethics: also to difficult specific
questions about euthnasia, capital punishment, the conduct of a war.
Descriptive ethics • describes and compares the ethical norms in different societies.
Divine command theory • meta-ethically, the non-natural view that morality is defined by gods commands,
revealed through scripture and the church.
Ethical naturalism • the meta-ethical view that morality is denied by facts about nature or human
nature.
Ethical non-cognitivism • the view that morality is non-cognitive, has nothing to do with facts, but reduces
instead to ‘emotional ejaculations’ (Ayer), or to universalisable prescriptions about
moral behavior (Hare).
Ethical non-naturalism • the meta-ethical view that moral knowledge is a factual property known by intuition
or by gods commands, for example.
First-order questions • questions raised by normative ethics- about how we should behave/what we
should do- are called first-order ethical questions.
intuitionism • As a form of non-naturalism, intuitionism is the meta-ethical view that moral
knowledge is a factual property known by intuition.
meta-ethics • the consideration of second-order questions about the nature and purpose of
morality, such as: what is the meaning of ‘good’, ‘bad’. ‘Right’, or ‘wrong’?
Naturalistic fallacy • G.E Moore's argument that it is a fallacy when people reason from facts to moral
claims.
Neo-naturalism • ‘New naturalism’- a new form of ethical naturalism which argues (against
G.E.Moore) that morality does have a factual content: ‘good’ is that which leads to
the flourishing of human beings, or the flourishing of the entire environment.
Normative ethics • first-order ethical questions about how we should behave; what ethical norms we
should follow.
Religious ethics • the approach to ethics which derives moral values from god/a divine realm: for
example, divine command theory.
,Second-order questions • meta-ethical questions about the nature and purpose of morality are called
second-order ethical questions. In ethics , second-order questions about first-order
questions and the answers given to those questions.
Secular ethics • the approach which argues that ethical theories and actions are based on human
faculties such as logic and reason, and not on religious values or commands given
by god.
Meta-ethics
Introduction
Descriptive ethics
• describes ethical practices in different times, places and culture, without making any judgement about these
different practices.
Normative ethics
• investigates the questions that arise when considering how we ought to behave, so those who develop normative
ethical theories (such as natural moral law, situation ethics, virtue ethics and utilitarianism) are recommending
that you ought to behave in accordance with the principles of each theory. Normative ethics is ‘first-order’ ethical
language.
Applied ethics
• the process of applying normative principles and arguments to particular situations, for example business ethics,
medical ethics, legal ethics, animal ethics.
Meta-ethics
• a ‘second-order’ ethical language. It examines what moral language is about, its origin and cause, and how it can
be justified. It asks questions such as:
- What is the meaning of ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘right’, ‘wrong’?
- What is a moral value, and where do moral values come from?
- Do moral facts exist, and if so, what are they?
- What motivates people to act morally? Is it pleasure, happiness, love, or what?
Meta-ethical theories
- Ethical naturalism: holds that morality is cognitive/factual; good is real, objective, and in the world. It is to
be found in the facts about nature, and/or the facts about human nature. Utilitarianism finds the facts of
morality in human happiness/pleasure.
- Ethical non-naturalism: holds that morality is cognitive/factual; good is real but cannot be defined; it is
intuited (intuitionism), or else is revealed by a supernatural source (god).
-
,• Many philosophers have abandoned both naturalism and non-naturalism in favour of ethical non-cognitivism,
which maintains that ‘good’ is not a factual property at all. Our moral ideas, claims are nothing more than wishes,
emotions or intentions, for example.
Divine Command Theory (DCT)
• DCT is a non-naturalist approach to ethics. Moral facts are not found in nature or in human nature: they are
revealed (through scripture and the church) by a supernatural source- God. ‘Supernatural’ means, literally, ‘above
the natural’.
• DCT is clearly a religious rather than a secular ethic. It is based on the belief in the existence of a divine being,
God, who is the source of ‘good’, and whose moral commands are revealed through scripture and made clear
(when necessary) by the church. Many protestant christians follow DCT, believing that God's will is the only true
source of moral authority.
1) DCT argues that whatever god commands must be good, and whatever he forbids must be evil.
2) People should therefore act in a way that reflects God's will.
3) DCT is grounded in the belief that god is the creator, and humans are made in god's image, so there must
be a link between creator and created. For protestants in particular, who live by the doctrine of sola
scriptura, gods commands are revealed in scripture, particularly in the 10 commandments and in Jesus'
teachings in the sermon on the mount. DCT is based both on God's commands and his ethical character.
4) Calvin argued that there is nothing more sublime than a god's will, so whatever god commands must be
obeyed. For Barth, all questions about good and evil were settled by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Strengths of DCT
• For religious people, it grounds their moral behavior in the teachings of a factually-existing god whose
commands must be good and promote good.
• The rules are universal, so are the same in all times, places and cultures.
• DCT is clear: ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘wrong’ are defined precisely by gods commands.
• There is an end goal to following those commands, namely life after death.
• God is a totally fair judge.
Weaknesses of DCT
• Even if the moral commands in the bible do come from god (and not from humans), we cannot tell that theory is
as god gave them: there are too many issues with the text itself.
• The bible contains immoral commands, for example concerning slavery and homosexuality.
• The problem of autonomy: DCT does not allow a genuinely free moral choice beyond the carrot and stick of ‘obey
and go to heaven’ or ‘disobey and go to hell’.
• Euthyphros' dilemma seems insoluble: ‘is conduct right because god commands it, or do the gods command it
because it is right?’ there is no universally-accepted solution to either ‘horn’ of the dilemma.
Ethical naturalism (and utilitarianism as an example)
, • ethical naturalism holds that moral values can be described in terms of natural properties such as love or
happiness, so they are objective and in the world. Naturalist theories are therefore realist, and aspire to be true,
although naturalists admit that we can be right or wrong about them.
• Naturalism is grounded in the facts of nature or of human nature; so utilitarians see ‘the good’ in terms of the
facts about pleasures and happiness,whereas virtue ethicists think that the facts are about complete well-being.
• Naturalists often devise rules to guide behaviour, so a utilitarianism who follows the rule of ‘the greatest
happiness for the greatest number’ can be described as ‘morally good’.
• Naturalists argue that it is vital to hold that there are ethical facts about the world, because these justify our
actions.
Utilitarianism
Bentham's utilitarianism
• sees pain and pleasure as the ‘two sovereign masters’ of humanity, determining all we do, and therefore what we
ought to do. We observe this to be true, so we can see these facts in human nature.
• pleasure or happiness is the one intrinsic good, valued for itself, and not for some other valuable thing it
produces. Likewise pain/unhappiness is the one intrinsic evil. We ought, therefore, to maximise pleasure and to
minimise pain, by seeking the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
• observation shows us that pleasure can be measured objectively by its intensity, duration, certainty, proximity,
productiveness, purity and extent. It does not matter whether pleasure comes from a simple game or from cultural
activities such as opera and philosophy. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethic, where the moral value of an
action is measured by its results.
Mills utilitarianism
• argued (against Bentham) that the ‘higher’ cultural pleasures are superior to lower (physical) ones (to avoid the
objection to utilitarianism that it is ‘pig philosophy’). He described the good in terms of the quality of life rather
than the quantity of pleasure.
• Mill pointed out the value of moral rules, since many of the rules society uses are there because they have proved
their utilitarian value over many centuries: they are justified by producing a balance of pleasure over pain, and
produce a society based on justice.
Strengths of ethical naturalism
• ethical values are seen as factual because they reduce to properties about the world, such as happiness, love
and well-being, and these are seen as factual, being grounded in nature or human nature.
• Right and wrong are objective, existing in the world, outside ourselves, so we can know whether we are doing
right or wrong.
• ethical propositions give us guidelines and rules to follow.
• We can be judged by our adherence to the rules, and punished if we break them.
• Most people tend to follow one naturalist theory or another. It is often said that UK law and politics are broadly
utilitarian in character.
Weaknesses of ethical naturalism
Meta-ethics
Applied ethics • Applying normative principles and arguments to particular areas, for example
medical ethics, animal ethics, business ethics, legal ethics: also to difficult specific
questions about euthnasia, capital punishment, the conduct of a war.
Descriptive ethics • describes and compares the ethical norms in different societies.
Divine command theory • meta-ethically, the non-natural view that morality is defined by gods commands,
revealed through scripture and the church.
Ethical naturalism • the meta-ethical view that morality is denied by facts about nature or human
nature.
Ethical non-cognitivism • the view that morality is non-cognitive, has nothing to do with facts, but reduces
instead to ‘emotional ejaculations’ (Ayer), or to universalisable prescriptions about
moral behavior (Hare).
Ethical non-naturalism • the meta-ethical view that moral knowledge is a factual property known by intuition
or by gods commands, for example.
First-order questions • questions raised by normative ethics- about how we should behave/what we
should do- are called first-order ethical questions.
intuitionism • As a form of non-naturalism, intuitionism is the meta-ethical view that moral
knowledge is a factual property known by intuition.
meta-ethics • the consideration of second-order questions about the nature and purpose of
morality, such as: what is the meaning of ‘good’, ‘bad’. ‘Right’, or ‘wrong’?
Naturalistic fallacy • G.E Moore's argument that it is a fallacy when people reason from facts to moral
claims.
Neo-naturalism • ‘New naturalism’- a new form of ethical naturalism which argues (against
G.E.Moore) that morality does have a factual content: ‘good’ is that which leads to
the flourishing of human beings, or the flourishing of the entire environment.
Normative ethics • first-order ethical questions about how we should behave; what ethical norms we
should follow.
Religious ethics • the approach to ethics which derives moral values from god/a divine realm: for
example, divine command theory.
,Second-order questions • meta-ethical questions about the nature and purpose of morality are called
second-order ethical questions. In ethics , second-order questions about first-order
questions and the answers given to those questions.
Secular ethics • the approach which argues that ethical theories and actions are based on human
faculties such as logic and reason, and not on religious values or commands given
by god.
Meta-ethics
Introduction
Descriptive ethics
• describes ethical practices in different times, places and culture, without making any judgement about these
different practices.
Normative ethics
• investigates the questions that arise when considering how we ought to behave, so those who develop normative
ethical theories (such as natural moral law, situation ethics, virtue ethics and utilitarianism) are recommending
that you ought to behave in accordance with the principles of each theory. Normative ethics is ‘first-order’ ethical
language.
Applied ethics
• the process of applying normative principles and arguments to particular situations, for example business ethics,
medical ethics, legal ethics, animal ethics.
Meta-ethics
• a ‘second-order’ ethical language. It examines what moral language is about, its origin and cause, and how it can
be justified. It asks questions such as:
- What is the meaning of ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘right’, ‘wrong’?
- What is a moral value, and where do moral values come from?
- Do moral facts exist, and if so, what are they?
- What motivates people to act morally? Is it pleasure, happiness, love, or what?
Meta-ethical theories
- Ethical naturalism: holds that morality is cognitive/factual; good is real, objective, and in the world. It is to
be found in the facts about nature, and/or the facts about human nature. Utilitarianism finds the facts of
morality in human happiness/pleasure.
- Ethical non-naturalism: holds that morality is cognitive/factual; good is real but cannot be defined; it is
intuited (intuitionism), or else is revealed by a supernatural source (god).
-
,• Many philosophers have abandoned both naturalism and non-naturalism in favour of ethical non-cognitivism,
which maintains that ‘good’ is not a factual property at all. Our moral ideas, claims are nothing more than wishes,
emotions or intentions, for example.
Divine Command Theory (DCT)
• DCT is a non-naturalist approach to ethics. Moral facts are not found in nature or in human nature: they are
revealed (through scripture and the church) by a supernatural source- God. ‘Supernatural’ means, literally, ‘above
the natural’.
• DCT is clearly a religious rather than a secular ethic. It is based on the belief in the existence of a divine being,
God, who is the source of ‘good’, and whose moral commands are revealed through scripture and made clear
(when necessary) by the church. Many protestant christians follow DCT, believing that God's will is the only true
source of moral authority.
1) DCT argues that whatever god commands must be good, and whatever he forbids must be evil.
2) People should therefore act in a way that reflects God's will.
3) DCT is grounded in the belief that god is the creator, and humans are made in god's image, so there must
be a link between creator and created. For protestants in particular, who live by the doctrine of sola
scriptura, gods commands are revealed in scripture, particularly in the 10 commandments and in Jesus'
teachings in the sermon on the mount. DCT is based both on God's commands and his ethical character.
4) Calvin argued that there is nothing more sublime than a god's will, so whatever god commands must be
obeyed. For Barth, all questions about good and evil were settled by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Strengths of DCT
• For religious people, it grounds their moral behavior in the teachings of a factually-existing god whose
commands must be good and promote good.
• The rules are universal, so are the same in all times, places and cultures.
• DCT is clear: ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘wrong’ are defined precisely by gods commands.
• There is an end goal to following those commands, namely life after death.
• God is a totally fair judge.
Weaknesses of DCT
• Even if the moral commands in the bible do come from god (and not from humans), we cannot tell that theory is
as god gave them: there are too many issues with the text itself.
• The bible contains immoral commands, for example concerning slavery and homosexuality.
• The problem of autonomy: DCT does not allow a genuinely free moral choice beyond the carrot and stick of ‘obey
and go to heaven’ or ‘disobey and go to hell’.
• Euthyphros' dilemma seems insoluble: ‘is conduct right because god commands it, or do the gods command it
because it is right?’ there is no universally-accepted solution to either ‘horn’ of the dilemma.
Ethical naturalism (and utilitarianism as an example)
, • ethical naturalism holds that moral values can be described in terms of natural properties such as love or
happiness, so they are objective and in the world. Naturalist theories are therefore realist, and aspire to be true,
although naturalists admit that we can be right or wrong about them.
• Naturalism is grounded in the facts of nature or of human nature; so utilitarians see ‘the good’ in terms of the
facts about pleasures and happiness,whereas virtue ethicists think that the facts are about complete well-being.
• Naturalists often devise rules to guide behaviour, so a utilitarianism who follows the rule of ‘the greatest
happiness for the greatest number’ can be described as ‘morally good’.
• Naturalists argue that it is vital to hold that there are ethical facts about the world, because these justify our
actions.
Utilitarianism
Bentham's utilitarianism
• sees pain and pleasure as the ‘two sovereign masters’ of humanity, determining all we do, and therefore what we
ought to do. We observe this to be true, so we can see these facts in human nature.
• pleasure or happiness is the one intrinsic good, valued for itself, and not for some other valuable thing it
produces. Likewise pain/unhappiness is the one intrinsic evil. We ought, therefore, to maximise pleasure and to
minimise pain, by seeking the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
• observation shows us that pleasure can be measured objectively by its intensity, duration, certainty, proximity,
productiveness, purity and extent. It does not matter whether pleasure comes from a simple game or from cultural
activities such as opera and philosophy. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethic, where the moral value of an
action is measured by its results.
Mills utilitarianism
• argued (against Bentham) that the ‘higher’ cultural pleasures are superior to lower (physical) ones (to avoid the
objection to utilitarianism that it is ‘pig philosophy’). He described the good in terms of the quality of life rather
than the quantity of pleasure.
• Mill pointed out the value of moral rules, since many of the rules society uses are there because they have proved
their utilitarian value over many centuries: they are justified by producing a balance of pleasure over pain, and
produce a society based on justice.
Strengths of ethical naturalism
• ethical values are seen as factual because they reduce to properties about the world, such as happiness, love
and well-being, and these are seen as factual, being grounded in nature or human nature.
• Right and wrong are objective, existing in the world, outside ourselves, so we can know whether we are doing
right or wrong.
• ethical propositions give us guidelines and rules to follow.
• We can be judged by our adherence to the rules, and punished if we break them.
• Most people tend to follow one naturalist theory or another. It is often said that UK law and politics are broadly
utilitarian in character.
Weaknesses of ethical naturalism
