Meta-Ethics Emotivism

Normative Ethics Meta-ethics Subject matter is moral issues such as abortion, war, euthanasia etc Provides theories or frameworks which help people to make a moral decision Often referred to as a first order theory because it deals with moral issues Subject matter is not moral issues but moral philosophy itself Often referred to as a second order theory Reflects on the more fundamental aspects of morality Meta ethical questions fall into 3 categories: meta-physical, epistemological and linguistic

Meta-ethics and meta-physics Concerned with the nature of reality (Realism) Meta-physical questions could be “do moral properties exist?” “Is there an objective moral truth?” Some realists argue that there are objective moral truths Objective moral truths are those which are mind independent and not true because we believe they are true We are not free to decide for ourselves what is right or wrong (moral objectivism) This view contrasts with moral subjectivism; this is people who believe that there are no moral properties in the world, they are anti- realists Anti-realists do not believe that moral judgements state facts about the world G.E. Moore was a moral objectivist

Meta-ethics and Epistemology Focuses on how knowledge is acquired An example of an epistemological question could be “how do we know the difference between right and wrong?” Questions the nature of moral truths and how knowledge of them is acquired

Meta-ethics and Language Linguistic questions look at the nature of moral language An example of a linguistic ethical question could be: “what are we doing when we make a moral claim such as ‘killing is wrong’ Language performs many functions such as stating a fact, expressing an emotion or giving a command Does ethical language fall into any of these categories? What function does ethical language perform? Emotivism is a non-cognitive theory, cognitive theories are allied with moral realism because they claim that moral statements are factual Non cognitive theorists are committed to the view that moral; statements do no state facts but instead are expressions of emotions

Emotivism Philosophers associated with the theory are AJ Ayer and GL Moore