Ethics

Ethics Study Guide Meta-ethics is also known as analytic ethics. In philosophy, meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties (if there are any), and ethical statements, attitudes, and judgments. Whenever a moral system is created, it is based upon certain premises about reality, human nature, values, etc. Meta-ethics questions the validity of those premises and argues that maybe we don’t really know what we are talking about after all. It is distinct from normative ethics because in meta-ethics we are not trying to figure out what we ought to do. Rather, we are trying to figure out what it means to say we ought to do something. 1.5 Moral Judgments, Argumentation, and Reasoning People frequently give arguments about the right action, but when asked to explain why they think something is or is not good or right, they answer, “it just is.” This isn’t very convincing, unless the person you are talking to happens to already agree with you. Being able to say why we think that something is good or right in a way that is convincing to another is one goal of ethical discussions. While reasoning and arguing it is important to understand the types of judgments used in the process. Moral judgments are normative judgments that presume a moral norm or standard. As discussed above, normative (or evaluative) judgments are based on the moral values of society at the time. As societal values change, normative judgments change. Value judgments are types of normative judgments that something is good or bad, or that one thing is better or worse than something else. Prescriptive judgments or statements are normative judgments that attempt to regulate or guide behavior through the use of terms such as ought and shouldn’t . In order to discuss ethical questions with people of differing positions, you need to learn to argue effectively. The objective of learning the basics of argumentation are 1) to speak convincingly to support your point, and perhaps to change the mind of your opposition, and 2) to be able to recognize faulty reasoning that often obscures the true issue(s) at hand. 1.6 Argumentation: Basic Terms and Concepts • Premise: A statement about something known or assumed, which forms the basis of an argument, and is the idea supported by the reasoning in the argument. It can also be called a proposition. In writing a paper, it would be the thesis. • Assumption: Something taken for granted, or a supposition. Synonyms for assumption are presupposition, hypothesis, conjecture, guess, postulate, theory. • Argument: The combination of one or more premises and a conclusion. It is also a process of reasoning that begins with a premise and ends with a conclusion. • Sound argument: A valid argument with a true premise, thus a sound argument has a true conclusion. • Counter example: An exception to a proposed general rule usually used to argue that a certain philosophical position is wrong by showing that it does not apply in certain cases. ©2018 Achieve Page 8 of 116