FINISHED Ethics Chapter 5 (ABSOLUTISM VERSUS RELATIVISM)

CHPT 5 Emotive Theory

Emotive Theory: They express their feelings or attitudes say, moral propositions have no real basis in fact

CHPT 5 Types of propositions: Empirical/External Sense

Empirical/External Sense Propositions: describes state of affairs that we have evidence through our senses or reasoning, such as "There is life on other planets", do not know if they can be absolutely true Norman Malcolm believe empirical propositions can be known to be absolutely true or false such as "there is a table in front of me Assume that Empirical assumptions can be known to be true and absolutely true

CHPT 5 Relativism: Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche declared "God is Dead" Then it became a challenge to traditionally held moral claims that were unconditional

CHPT 5 Moores Naturalistic Fallacy

G.E Moore helped with naturalistic fallacy when we describe moral propositions as the same as empirical, basically saying "Getting an ought from an is", which is when you say "Stealing my wife will make me angry" which is true "So you shouldn't" is not true, can't correlate

TCHPT 5 Moore's naturalistic fallacy

If we say moral propositions are not any different from empirical propositions we are committing the "naturalistic fallacy," i.e, trying to get an "ought" from an "is." However, some moral propositions can be clearly and logically inferred from empirical propositions (example of AIDS).

CHPT 5 Types of propositions: Internal sense

Internal Sense Propositions: propositions that human being assert about their own internal senses or states. These are always true if honestly spoken since we know ourselves and need no further evidence John Hospers: calls propositions to be true, "the strong sense of knowing", if the latter fulfulls the following requirements -"I must believe it to be true -"The proposition is actually true" -"I must have conclusive evidence that it is true"

TCHPT 5 Problems with Emotive Theory

John Hospers has pointed out discrepancies. Moral propositions can have: 1) purpose or intention 2) effects on hearers 3) actual meaning If a moral proposition can have these attributes then not all moral propositions are solely emotive. Emotivist theory exaggerates its claims.

CHPT 5 Problems with Emotive Theory

John Hospers in Human Conduct raise questions, does not deny moral propositions are used emotively, but does not believe that is their only use -Moral propositions have purpose or intention of --the person who utters moral propositions -The effect the propositions have on their hearers -The actual meaning of propositions Statement is not always emotional, may not need approval or disapproval

CHPT 5 Notes on Moral Absolutism

Just because things are similar, does not mean all similar societies are valid or absolute, similarities of needs does not mean they should or should not be satisfied, and similar morals does not mean those morals are correct

CHPT 5 Types of propositions: Moral

Moral Propositions: is one with moral import, such as "humans should not kill", it contains judgments as to morality of human actions or characters, contains words such as good, evil, wrong, bad, etc. Some propositions contain those words and have no moral import like "You should turn right"- so would need a moral implication added

CHPT 5 Relativism: Moral Relativist

Moral relativist believes there are no absolutes and morals are based on a person or group Ex: What is right for you may not be right for me

CHPT 5 Normative Moral Statements

Moral statements are propositions of empirical type, but they are value judgements He is a good man could be considered empirical if we set standards for what is good

CHPT 5 Prescriptive Moral Statements

Moral statements that are prescriptive- like humans shouldn't kill, they can assert a reality, but they include a value judgement Prescriptive Moral Statements: Hence they assert something on reality that are either true or false

CHPT 5 Relativism: Morality Context

Morality Context: Old morality stresses absolutes, new morality stresses doing your own thing and what feels good

CHPT 5 Proposition against killing human beings

Not killing human beings can be considered a true proposition since we can defend it -Human beings don't want to be threatened and want to stay alive and killing threatens that -There can be no moral system without human beings in the picture -We have proven to want to be good, and normally more so than wanting to be bad, and killing someone would take their chance at being good

CHPT 5 Near or almost absolutes

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CHPT 5 Cultural Relativism

People who believe in cultural relativism is true site their facts to prove themselves: Studies show extreme variations of manners, customs, etc. Moral beliefs are taken from the environment and based on socially accepted People believe their true morality is the one that they hold - not someone else's

TCHPT 5 Moral propositions as types of empirical propositions

Perhaps moral propositions are empirical propositions with value judgments. Normative moral statements Some possibility that "he is a good man" could be thought similar to "that is a green table?" Prescriptive moral statements Can prescriptive moral claims be thought true or false? Some prescriptive non-moral statements (chess example) appear to assert something about reality, i.e., are true or false. Propositions against killing human beings Could we make some case for moral propositions? Perhaps propositions against killing human beings is "best case scenario." Problems with moral propositions Tension between true propositions and human action and between propositions that conflict. But perhaps all moral theories require some absolute. Near or almost absolutes Perhaps the best to aim for are near or almost absolutes making sure we justify all the exceptions.

TCHPT 5 Propositions and states of affairs

Propositions are true or false statements regarding states of affairs. States of affairs are occurrences, events or happenings that either occurs or not. They cannot be true or false. Are there any absolute truths? Truth is not dependent or contingent upon our ability to know at a given time. Truth is based on whether state of affairs occur.

TCHPT 5 Relativism

Relativism Are people relativists in real situations? Most will qualify this statement. What does the need to supply or add rules to relativism tell us? Our practical lives seem to conflict with our relativist theories.

TCHPT 5 The meaning of relation

Relativism: Values are relative to time, place, person, situation, etc.; no values are absolute or independent of cultures and peoples.

CHPT 5 Meaning of Relative

Relativism: states that there are no absolutes at all and that all values are relative to time, place, persons, and situations- no values cut across all cultures Mild Relativism: states that morality varies from person to person Extreme Relativism: means anything goes, whatever one says is moral is

TCHPT 5 Moral absolutism

Similarities in societies does not suggest the existence of absolutes. Because people and situations exist or behave in certain ways tells us little about what should or ought to be the case. It appears that if absolutism is true then relativism is false and vice versa. If absolutism is true how do we resolve the issue of conflict between them?

Chpt 5 Emotivism is the view that moral statements have only noncognitive meaning. True False

True

Chpt 5 A problem with absolutes is what to do when they conflict. True False

True

Chpt 5 Because a view in one culture is different from another does not mean that either view is right or wrong. True False

True

Chpt 5 One problem with relativism, according to the author of the text, is that it does not enable us to be critical. True False

True

Chpt 5 Relativism is the belief that morality is relative to time, place, situation, people, culture, etc. True False

True

CHPT 5 Problems with moral propositions

- Problem when we are aware of the proposition but choose to ignore it -We need a way between choosing between conflicting propositions and choosing between true or false propositions -We can only find near and almost absolutes but not 100% absolutes -No moral system or code can exist without at least one basic principle

CHPT 5 Propositions and States of Affairs

-Absolute is used in connection with propositions as they relate to truth or falsity -Propositions are meaningful statements describing states of affairs, and they must be either true or false -State of Affairs: is an occurrence, event, or happening -True State of affairs: a state of affair that did occur, past tense, that is occuring, or that will occur -False Proposition: state of affairs that did not happen, is not occuring, or will not occur ONLY propositions are true or false, not state of affairs

CHPT 5 Is there any absolute truths?

-Proposition had to be EITHER true OR False, we just didn't know which one it was -Truth and Falsity is an absolute

TCHPT 5 Cultural absolutism

1) Similar moral principles exist in all societies, e.g,. prohibition on murder, truth telling, etc. 2) All peoples have similar needs. 3) Similarities in situations and relationships across cultures, e.g., families, brothers and sisters 4) Similarities in sentiment, jealousy, emotion, love, need for respect, etc.

TCHPT 5 Cultural relativism

1) Studies by anthropologists reveal wide variation in customs, mores, practices, etc. 2) Moral beliefs derive from culture. 3) Different cultures believe that their morality is the one true morality.

Chpt 5 Who is in the ideal position to know the true value of an internal sense proposition? 1) the person who utters the proposition 2) a logician 3) a linguist 4) a ghost whisperer

1) the person who utters the proposition

Chpt 5 Which of the following moral theories seems most compatible with the basic views of relativism? 1) Confucian ethics 2) act consequentialism 3) Kant's duty ethics 4) Ross' theory of prima facie duties

2) act consequentialism

Chpt 5 "I really, really, love you." This is an example of __________. 1) an analytic proposition 2) an internal sense proposition 3) a belletristic proposition 4) an empirical proposition

2) an internal sense proposition

Chpt 5 What is the standard for determining whether a proposition is a moral proposition? 1) Whether the proposition describes a utility calculation. 2) Whether the proposition is descriptive of a value. 3) Whether the proposition has moral import. 4) Whether we are made better or worse people just by believing it.

3) Whether the proposition has moral import.

Chpt 5 If a person is committed to cultural relativism, the person must believe, among other things, that __________. 1) there is no point debating the usefulness of certain cultural practices 2) there are no moral standards with which we can evaluate a culture and its practices 3) the standards for justifying the morality of cultural practice are always internal to that culture 4) there are no grounds for preferring one culture to another

3) the standards for justifying the morality of cultural practice are always internal to that culture

Chpt 5 A moral relativist will likely be much less helpful than a moral absolutist in a case where __________. 1) ...the question is misleading since there is no practical difference between cultural relativism and cultural absolutism 2) we need standards for resolving moral conflicts between different classes in the same society 3) we need compelling standards for resolving cross-cultural moral disagreements 4) two cultures both claim to have historical rights to the same territory

3) we need compelling standards for resolving cross-cultural moral disagreements

Chpt 5 What does it mean to call a proposition analytic? 1) It means that the truth of the proposition is determined by the meaning of the words used in the proposition. 2) It means that coming to know whether it is true or false requires critical thinking and empirical analysis. 3) It means that the truth of the proposition is contingent. 4) It means that the proposition expresses an absolute truth.

4) It means that the proposition expresses an absolute truth.

Chpt 5 A person who believes that morality flows directly from the eternal commandments of divine being would be an example of a __________. 1) divine utilitarian 2) religious relativist 3) cultural absolutist 4) moral absolutist

4) moral absolutist

Chpt 5 "We can never derive an is from an ought nor an ought from an is." This follows from __________. 1) the normativity of moral judgments 2) the belief in moral absolutism 3) the belief that moral propositions are empirical 4) the naturalistic fallacy

4) the naturalistic fallacy

Chpt 5 When we come to believe the truth of a moral proposition, if we are rational we will __________. 1) take ourselves to have refuted the naturalistic fallacy 2) refuse to entertain the possibility that the proposition could be false 3) abandon any belief in moral relativism 4) try to live in accordance with that proposition

4) try to live in accordance with that proposition

TCHPT 5 The meanings of absolute

Absolute means variously perfect, complete, certain. However, it is difficult to prove an absolute supernatural being exists or the presence of absolutes (laws) in nature, let alone "natural moral laws."

CHPT 5 Meaning of Absolute

Absolute: used to describe a supernaturals being laws, propositions concerning truths and false, and law and morality (more definition 78) Hard to prove absolutes because things are always changing, they can be very probable but until we live in it can't be conclusive

TCHPT 5 Absolutism

Absolutism There are absolutes in the sense of absolutely true propositions. From some of these we may derive "near or almost absolutes" that are moral principles "don't kill another human being" that provide basic foundations. Each exception must be carefully justified.

CHPT 5 Types of propositions: analytic

Analytic Propositions: Is a truth that is known to be absolite, a thing must be its very definition Ex: all bachelors are unmarried, all triangles have three sides

TCHPT 5 Types of Propositions:

Analytic propositions: Logical truths - law of non-contradiction, excluded middle, identity, etc. True by definition of terms. Internal sense propositions: Propositions that assert something of our internal state. True by experience. Empirical propositions: State of affairs that occur in the external world. True by evidence of the senses. Moral propositions: Propositions that have moral import, e.g., abortion is evil. Generally, but not always, these propositions contain words like should, ought, right, good, etc. Emotive Theory: If some propositions are absolutely true by virtue of logic or experience, are moral propositions ever absolute? Some claim that morals are non-cognitive or "emotional" having no basis in fact.

TCHPT 5 Moral relativism

Because cultures disagree does not mean that a particular belief cannot be right or wrong.

CHPT 5 Cultural Absolutism

Cultural Absolutism: is the view that says ultimate moral principles do not vary culture to culture, ultimate principles underlying all of the varying rules and standards are the same -They say that similar moral principles exist in all societies, such as keeping human life, prohibit lying, etc -People in all cultures have similar needs -Many similar situations and relationships in culture -Many intercultural similarities in areas like attitude, emotion, love, etc

CHPT 5 Note on Moral relativism

Cultures differ on right and wrong, does not mean a particular belief IS right or wrong Beliefs have no necessary connection between what things are true (if one believed the earth was flat), things do not need to be true or false