Meta-Ethics Lecture Notes

Introduction to Meta-Ethics

• Difference from Normative Ethics:
  • Normative ethics assumes good and bad exist, trying to define them according to our intuitions.
  • Meta-ethics questions the nature of good and bad themselves.
• Two Main Questions in Meta-Ethics:
  1. Psychological Question:
     • What do moral judgments mean? (e.g., stealing is wrong)
     • Related to Cognitivism vs. Non-Cognitivism.
  2. Metaphysical Question:
     • Do moral properties exist independently of our minds?
     • Related to Realism vs. Anti-Realism.

Main Theories in Meta-Ethics

Metaphysical Question: Realism vs. Anti-Realism

• Moral Realism:
  • Moral properties are real, objective properties of the world.
  • Types of Moral Realism:
    • Moral Naturalism: Moral properties are natural, observable properties (e.g., pleasure and pain in utilitarianism).
    • Moral Non-Naturalism: Moral properties are basic, unanalyzable, and not reducible to natural properties.
• Moral Anti-Realism:
  • Moral properties do not exist independently of our minds.
  • Error Theory: Moral statements are truth-apt but always false because moral properties do not exist.
  • Non-Cognitivism: Moral judgments are expressions of emotion, not truth-apt.

Psychological Question: Cognitivism vs. Non-Cognitivism

• Cognitivism:
  • Moral judgments are truth-apt (capable of being true or false).
• Non-Cognitivism (e.g., Emotivism, Prescriptivism):
  • Moral judgments express emotions or prescriptions and are neither true nor false.

Key Arguments and Concepts

Moral Realism

• Moral Naturalism:
  • Example: Utilitarianism equates good with pleasure.
  • Criticism: G.E. Moore’s naturalistic fallacy argues against reducing moral properties to natural properties.
• Moral Non-Naturalism:
  • Argues moral properties can't be reduced and are known through intuition (Intuitionism).

Moral Anti-Realism

• Error Theory:
  • Combines cognitivism with anti-realism stating moral judgments are false.
• Non-Cognitivism (e.g., Emotivism):
  • Moral judgments are expressions of emotion (e.g., "boo" theory).
  • Criticized for not explaining moral reasoning and argumentation.

Arguments Against Moral Anti-Realism

• Moral Progress:
  • Anti-realism struggles to explain objective moral progress.
• Moral Nihilism:
  • Implication of no objective moral values, potentially leading to moral nihilism.

Important Figures and Texts

• G.E. Moore: Principia Ethica, criticized naturalistic fallacy.
• John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism, argued for moral naturalism.
• A.J. Ayer: Language, Truth, and Logic, argued for emotivism using the verification principle.
• David Hume: Treatise of Human Nature, related to non-cognitivism.
• J.L. Mackie: Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, known for error theory and the argument from queerness.

Summary

• Meta-ethics deals with the existence and nature of moral properties.
• Realism vs. Anti-Realism and Cognitivism vs. Non-Cognitivism are central debates.
• Various theories provide different perspectives on understanding moral language and properties.
• Theories include naturalism, non-naturalism, error theory, emotivism, and prescriptivism.

These notes provide an overview of meta-ethics, capturing the debates and theories discussed in the lecture.