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Notes and Thoughts on J. L. Mackie’s Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong; The Subjectivity of ValuesRecapSo, what were we talkin’ ’bout? Ah! yes, that there are no objective moral values. Let’s look a little more closely at what that might mean…Standards of EvaluationWhat might it mean to say there are no objective moral values? One […]
Read More Objective Moral Values Don’t Exist: J. L. Mackie Part 2Mackie on Objectivity/SubjectivityMackie’s Arguments from Relativity and Queerness Notes and Thoughts on J. L. Mackie’s Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, Part 1IntroMackie represents the position in meta-ethics known a moral skepticism. As you may have guessed, his position is typified by a strong belief in a god and objective moral values. Jk. lol. Actually, moral skepticism […]
Read More Objective Moral Values Don’t Exist: Mackie Part 1The Case for EmotivismRecapIn part 1 we looked at Ayer’s arguments against the idea that any value assertion (e.g. “x is good/right/bad”) by subjectivism, utilitarianism, or absolutism is not reducible to any testable claim, and is therefore meaningless, except as expressions of emotions of approval or disapproval. So, for example, if I say “premarital sex is baaaaaaaaaaaad” […]
Read More Hurrah/Boo Theory of Ethics: A. J. Ayer Part 2Notes and Thoughts on A. J. Ayer’s Critique of Ethics and Theology Favourite Quote: “The propositions which describe the phenomena of moral experience must be assigned to psychology or sociology. The exhortations to moral virtue are not propositions at all, but ejaculations or commands which are designed to provoke the reader to action of a […]
Read More The Hoorah/Boo Theory of Ethics: A. J. Ayer Part 1G. E. Moore’s Open Question ArgumentReviewIn the previous post we took a look at G. E. Moore’s naturalistic fallacy which, if you recall, is (short version): (1) Simple ideas/concepts cannot be defined by their properties because then they would be the same as their properties. Eg. ‘Yellow’ cannot be defined as ‘bright’ because ‘yellow’ and ‘bright’ […]
Read More Maybe It’s Good that Helping Old Ladies Across The Street Brings About Happiness? But, Is It Good That It’s Good?G. E. Moore: The Naturalistic FallacyOverviewG. E. Moore marks the beginning of contemporary meta-ethics. Vas is meta-ethics you ask? It’s the branch of philosophy where we study the origin and meaning of ethical concepts. We try to answer questions like, what does it mean for something to be good? bad? evil? What is a […]
Read More What’s the Definition of ‘Yellow’?
Wrestling with Philosophy 