Term
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Definition
| Some moral claims and beliefs are objectively true and some are objectively false. |
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Term
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Definition
| No moral claim or belief is objectively true or false. |
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Term
| Three Forms of Moral Nonobjectivism |
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Definition
(1)Moral Nihilism
(2)Moral Relativism
(3)Moral Subjectivism |
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Term
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Definition
| There is no moral right or wrong because no moral principles or system of principles are true or wrong. Nothing is morally right or wrong, good or bad, required or prohibited. Moral evaluations are nonsense, meaningless. They are fiction. |
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Term
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Definition
| There is no one correct moral code that applies to and binds all societies. Different societies and cultures have different moral codes. |
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Term
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Definition
| Each society has its own moral code and whatever they say is right and wrong is right and wrong for that society. |
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Term
| Reasons for Accepting Protagorean Relativism |
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Definition
(1)God may not exist
(2)There are no moral principles that all societies accept.
(3)No one can prove who is correct in a moral dispute. If you can't prove either of opposite moral claims, then neither is correct or incorrect.
(4)Virtue of Tolerance - You shouldn't judge other societies on the basis of one's own moral code.
(5)People have a duty to conform to the moral code of their society. |
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Term
| Criticisms of Protagorean Relativism |
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Definition
(1)Relativism violates logical laws - the principle of consistency.
(2)Believing something is true doesn't always make it really true.
(3)A society's moral code is the code of the majority. But in disagreements exist within society. This makes the majority always right. What should count is the weight of the argument, not the number of people who believe it.
(4)The problem with subgroups; people belong to many subgroups and these subgroups can have their own moral codes.
(5)Moral relativists can't seem to have moral beliefs of their own. So in what sense do they have moral beliefs at all?
(6)Moral relativism precludes moral inquiry other than consulting public opinion. |
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Term
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Definition
| Whatever an individual believe to be right or wrong for right or wrong for that person. The highest court of appeal is the individuals's own moral code. Moral beliefs are based on an individual's feelings, which are subjective and thus neither true nor false. |
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Term
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Definition
(1)People disagree about moral issues.
(2)No one can prove who is correct in a moral dispute. |
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Term
| Criticisms of Moral Subjectivism |
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Definition
(1)It violates the principle of consistency.
(2)It seems one can't have any moral beliefs. If everyone is right, then the concept of right makes no sense; if every moral claim is true, then truth means nothing. Reduction to nihilism.
(3)Moral inquiry and moral improvement are ruled out. If correct, it doesn't matter what one believes and how one came to believe it. There is no sense talking about moral progress, because there is no standard of better than worse.
(4)Believing something doesn't make it true. |
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Term
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Definition
| Entail making choices, or selections, on the basis of some standard. |
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Term
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Definition
| A descriptive belief; a claim or affirmation that include no evaluation (claims a fact). |
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Term
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Definition
| Beliefs that entail a moral standard. Look for basis concepts: good-bad, just-unjust, ought-ought not, should-should not, fair-unfair, right-wrong. |
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Term
| Moral Unacceptable (Immoral) |
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Definition
| Fails to meet standards appropriate to moral evaluation: it is morally wrong; forbidden; prohibited (EX: Murder, stealing, etc.). |
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Term
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Definition
| Entail making choices, or selections, on the basis of some standard. |
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Term
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Definition
| A descriptive belief; a claim or affirmation that include no evaluation (claims a fact). |
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Term
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Definition
| Beliefs that entail a moral standard. Look for basis concepts: good-bad, just-unjust, ought-ought not, should-should not, fair-unfair, right-wrong. |
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Term
| Moral Unacceptable (Immoral) |
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Definition
| Fails to meet standards appropriate to moral evaluation: it is morally wrong; forbidden; prohibited (EX: Murder, stealing, etc.). |
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Term
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Definition
| Does meet the standards appropriate to moral evaluation (telling the truth). |
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Term
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Definition
| Not doing something fails to meet appropriate to moral evaluation; it's wrong not to do it; not doing it is morally prohibited or forbidden (EX: Respecting parents, not stealing, etc). |
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Term
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Definition
| An issue that involves choices that will benefit or cause harm to others. |
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Term
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Definition
| Does meet the standards appropriate to moral evaluation (telling the truth). |
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Term
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Definition
| Not doing something fails to meet appropriate to moral evaluation; it's wrong not to do it; not doing it is morally prohibited or forbidden (EX: Respecting parents, not stealing, etc). |
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Term
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Definition
| An issue that involves choices that will benefit or cause harm to others. |
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Term
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Definition
| Providing reasons to support a moral evaluation; the process of providing or weighing reasons. |
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Term
| Three Alternatives of Moral Evaluation |
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Definition
(1)Immoral
(2)Morally Acceptable
(3)Morally Required |
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Term
| Moral Justification or Reasoning Appeals to Three Different Kinds of Considerations |
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Definition
(1)What the fact are (nonevaluative claims and beliefs).
(2)What moral principles apply
(3)What the words mean (metaethics). |
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Term
| Moral Justification or Reasoning Appeals to Three Different Kinds of Considerations |
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Definition
(1)What the fact are (nonevaluative claims and beliefs).
(2)What moral principles apply
(3)What the words mean (metaethics). |
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Term
| Moral Justification or Reasoning Appeals to Three Different Kinds of Considerations |
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Definition
(1)What the fact are (nonevaluative claims and beliefs).
(2)What moral principles apply
(3)What the words mean (metaethics). |
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Term
| Nonevaluative Beliefs are Reasonable if and only if: |
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Definition
(1)The statement is self-consistent (not self-contradictory).
(2)The statement is logically consistent with other beliefs the person holds.
(3)The person has some evidence that the statement is true.
(4)The person does not have strong evidence that the statement is false. |
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Term
| Nonevaluative Beliefs are Reasonable if and only if: |
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Definition
(1)The statement is self-consistent (not self-contradictory).
(2)The statement is logically consistent with other beliefs the person holds.
(3)The person has some evidence that the statement is true.
(4)The person does not have strong evidence that the statement is false. |
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