Those who oppose cognitivists are called non cognitivists and they believe that when someone makes a moral statement they are not describing the world, but they are merely expressing their feelings and opinions, they believe that moral statements are not objective therefore they cannot be verified as true or false. In this essay I will be discussing the multiple branches of cognitive theories and non cognitive theories in order to answer the Janus-like question whether or not moral statements truly hold objective meaning. Ethical naturalism is just one branch of a cognitive theory in which naturalists believe that ethical statements are the same as non-ethical ones, meaning they are all factual and can
Examine two critiques of the relationship between religion and morality. It has long been common thought that there is a distinct link between Religion and the fundamental moral laws upon which we base our lives upon. These heteronomous moral codes were used as the basic principles of everyday life. From this viewpoint then, it is hard to imagine a world without the concept of religion, as sure anarchy and suffering would ensure across the Globe. However, if this link between religion and morality is criticised, then there are sufficient grounds for secularist and atheistic ways of life.
While Ethical Naturalists believe it holds great importance as it can convey facts and help us to understand ethical theories, there are those who strongly disagree with this. For example Intuitionists, such as Moore, believe that our intuition is more useful when wanting to know how to act morally than knowing the definitions of ethical terms. Although Non-Cognitive theories disagree with the factual content of ethical statements, it is clear that they still see some significance in ethical language. However rather than seeing it as facts, they accept that morality is subjective and suggest that the importance of ethical language is provided by the emotions conveyed in the phrases used. Perhaps more so than Emotivists, Prescriptivists see ethical language as fairly meaningful.
Morals concern what is right and wrong. Right and wrong usually vary depending on what is normal in a specific culture or society. Many people would agree that what is “right” is moral, but it is James Rachels that explores what makes something right. Rachels argues that it is the cultural normality’s of a society itself, that makes an action morally right, while others would disagree and claim that there is a set of “universal moral codes” that people should live by. In different societies and cultures what is morally right and wrong can be determined only within the individual mind of a person.
Conservative philosophers debate that the very basics of society are endangered by rebellion, though humanists strain the importance of a singular conscience. Conservative can be defined as “holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in politics or religion.” Most conservative humans follow strict traditions and structure. “Conservative philosophers argue that the very fabric of society is threatened by disobedience, and even when the act ordered by authority is wrong, it is better to carry out the act than to wrench the structure of authority.” When it comes to obedience to authority, conservatives prefer to follow rules and consistent behavior. Obedience is heavily influenced by both external and internal factors, such as personal beliefs and overall personality. Human obedience to authority has taken away their freedom to decide what right and wrong.
Many people believe that morality is dependent is religion and morality is based on the religious scholars and holy books. There is no point in morality of God hadn’t set the moral values in the first place. However, some also say that humans only behave morally because they’re scared of God and any punishment to follow. There are several approaches that are taken when attempting to work out the relationship between religion and morality. ‘Is what is pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved?’ In Plato’s Euthyphro dilemma, Plato is asking ‘is x good because God loves it or does God love x because x is good?’ An example of this is murder; is murder wrong because God says it is or is murder wrong because it is wrong morally?
To what extent is conservatism the ideology of Human Imperfection? (45 marks) Human imperfections is a core belief of conservatism. Conservatives belief we are imperfect on three levels. One we are morally imperfect they believe that immoral and criminal behaviour can be traced back to the innately selfish and greedy individual rather than to problems within society as socialists or modern liberals would point too as the root cause. Conservatives have a pessimistic view of human nature, some would even agree with Hobbes view that the desire for “power after power” is the primary human urge.
Typical words that could be said when in an argument are “that’s not fair”, “you are wrong” and “how’d you like it if anyone did the same to you?”.The point Lewis is trying to make is that all humans, whether intentionally or not, follow some standard of behavior and expect others to follow it just as well. If there were no standard for right and wrong then Hitler’s actions would be considered acceptable behavior. Fault would be non-existent without a source of truth. In other words there cannot be wrong unless is a standard of rightness to compare one’s behavior to. Another point C.S Lewis makes when in The Law of Human Nature is that this law applies to all humans in all places and at all times.
“If we hope to sift style from substance, and discredit the willful muddling of the two that makes the unfamiliar look exotic, then we are looking not just for family resemblances or a behavioral lowest common dominator, but for moral threads and themes that can anchor norms to recognizably objective values (Goodman, 2010)”. Relativism is the reference to a variety of diverse thoughts that people have. The moral relativism affirms that morality is not being centered on one complete custom. Morality is centered on several customs of cultures and other things. The moral relativism can be centered on a person’s faith, the beliefs that their family instilled in him or
Ethics Essay Terence Lord ETH/316-Ethics and Social Responsibility May 5th, 2013 Denise Antoon Ethics Essay Deontology is a moral theory that accentuates one’s obligation to see to certain action just as the action, itself, is intrinsically right and not through any extra kind of shrewdness—such as the penalties of the action. Or in other words, it is the study of what is morally right or wrong. One simply may follow their obligations to another individual or society just because keeping one's obligation is what well-thought-out as ethically correct. However, one flaw of this theory is that there is no foundation or rational basis for determining an individual's sense of duty. For instance, an executive of a company may well choose