Ethics__1_

Ethics Questions / ​ Parallels ​ / ​ Main Ideas Notes Overview of Ethical Knowledge Note: Be wary of writing an essay on ethics rather than the knowledge of ethics ● E.g. How do I know that this is right > Why is this right? ● Focus on Nature (JTB), Construction, Validity and Society Scope of Epistemology in Ethics 1. Nature a. What does Right/Wrong Mean? b. Is Right/Wrong Objective/Subjective? c. Is Right/Wrong Internalist/Externalist d. What actions/motives/people are Right and Wrong? 2. Construction & Validity a. Why is something Right/Wrong? 3. Society a. What are the implications of something being right/wrong? Nature of Ethical Knowledge Ethics exists on a spectrum ● Right vs Wrong ● Obligatory vs Forbidden ● Permissible vs Right/Wrong Subjects of Other Fields of Knowledge ● Science: Real-World Objects ● Maths: Relations between abstract idealised objects ● Art: Experiences Scale of Ethics ● Sometimes right/wrong are not direct opposites ○ E.g. It is right to help the less fortunate →/ It is wrong not to help the less fortunate ○ E.g. It is good not to eat meat →/ It is wrong not to eat meat ■ Right →/ Obligatory Common Binaries ● Forbidden vs Permissible: Eating Meat ● Forbidden vs Obligatory: Telling the Truth ● Permissible vs Obligatory: Recycling

Subject of Ethical Knowledge Claims The “thing” of Ethical JTBs ● Actions ● People ● Intentions/Motives A fundamental belief in Ethics is... Ought → Can ● Threat of Determinism to Moral Realism Ought implies Can If X ought to do something, it is understood that X can do it 1. It is possible for X to choose 2. X is free to choose either way 3. X is responsible for making the choice ● Can’t rejects Ought: If x can’t do action y, we cannot say that x ought to do action y ● Ought: Good/Obligatory ● Used for evaluating if ethical knowledge is Real and Objective Determinism The theory that all events, including moral choices, are completely determined by previously existing causes ● Genetic ● Psychological ● Theological ● Causal The OUGHT → CAN can be contextualised to... State the 3 Views on Human Nature Human Nature The kinds of powers, capacities and dispositions humans have as a result of their ​ normal untouched starting condition ● Determines what “can”s we have and the likeliness of certain actions Views on Human Nature → Ethics 1. Ethics is anti-real: A game with arbitrary rules a. There is no such thing as good/evil b. Humans do not have a nature that tends towards good/evil c. BUT: Leads to the unpleasant conclusion that ethics is a meaningless tendency i. If we assign any purpose to the game e.g. something pragmatic to maintain order in society we would be making an ethical judgement that that purpose e.g. order is good

1. Perhaps we could assign purposes that are not ethically good but rational