PPT-Prescriptivism Michael Lacewing

enquiriesalevelphilosophycouk Cognitivism vs noncognitivism What are we doing when we make moral judgments Cognitivism moral judgments eg Murder is wrong Aim to describe how the world is. “You cannot derive an ought from an is.”. If, in . metaethics. we cannot say what ought to be done, then what is the point of it?. Emotivism is a good . description . of what expressions of morality are…Boo/Hurrah.. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. A. ct . utilitarianism. Actions . are morally right or wrong depending on their consequences and nothing else. An act is right if it maximises what is good.. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. The good. ‘What is the good for human beings?’. . What . is it that we are aiming . at?. What. . would provide a successful, fulfilling, good life. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Stealing. Steal: . to take someone else’s property with no intention of returning it and without their permission (or without the legal right to do so. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. Hedonist act utilitarianism. Actions . are morally right or wrong depending on their consequences and nothing else. An act is right if it maximises what is good.. Argument. Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. Anselm’s argument. God is a being ‘greater . than which cannot be conceived. ’. If you could think of something that is greater than God, surely this something would . Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Deontology. Morality is a matter of duty.. Whether something is right or wrong doesn’t depend on its consequences. Actions are right or wrong in themselves.. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Metaethics. What is morality, philosophical speaking?. Can ethical claims be objectively true or false?. Are moral properties part of reality?. Cognitivism: moral judgments, e.g. ‘Murder is wrong’. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Idealism. Idealism: everything that exists is a mind or dependent on a . mind. Berkeley: . to . be is to be perceived (or to perceive): . esse est percipi . enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Substance and properties. A substance is an entity, a thing, that does not depend on another entity for its continued existence. . It has ‘ontological independence’. Michael Lacewing. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. (c) Michael Lacewing. The question. Why does anything exist?. Unless God exists, this question is unanswerable.. (c) Michael Lacewing. Temporal and sustaining causes. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Eudaimonia and morality. ‘What is the good for human beings?’ . What is it that we are aiming at?. What would provide a successful, fulfilling, good life?. . . . Non-. cognivistism. . Prescriptivism . Evaluate Prescriptivism as non-cognitive use of ethical language . Starting Point: Prescriptivism. Like . Emotivists. , . Prescriptivists. believe:. enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. © Michael Lacewing. Is pleasure good?. Aristotle: . pleasure is good, and. . eudaimonia . involves pleasure. Obj. : . The temperate person avoids pleasure.. Not . true..