Meta-Ethics Essay

a) Explain different views about what people mean when they call a moral decision "wrong". (33)

b) '"Right" and "Wrong" are just expressions of preference; they do not refer to any absolute set of values.' Discuss. (17)

Here are some key points/ideas that I would want to include in my answer:

a)
* Meta-Ethics is the study of the language of ethics ... what does it mean to say something is "right" or "wrong"?
* A Naturalist (eg Thomas Aquinas, an Ethical Naturalist) would believe that they can use their senses to verify that something is wrong .... observation would show that the results of that action caused unhappiness, so must be wrong ...
* G.E. Moore would describe that belief as the "Naturalistic Fallacy" ... he did not believe that right or wrong could be verified using senses ... instead he argued that it could be acertained using intuition (Intuitionism) ... if an Intuitionist says that something is "wrong", she means that ...
* Emotivism ... A.J. Ayer would say that to call a moral decision "wrong" simply means that you do not like that action eg abortion - boo! (C. Stevenson ... added ...)
* Prescriptivism ... Hare universalised Ayer's idea by saying that if you thought "abortion - boo!", you should also want everyone else to think "abortion - boo!", therefore if you call a moral decision wrong, you are saying that you don't like this decision and neither should anyone else.

b)
* Emotivism would certainly agree that "right" and "wrong" are simply expressions of preference ... you are simply stating whether or not you like or approve of an action or not.
* However, other positions and ethical theories would suggest that it is possible to use "right" and "wrong" in a way that refers to a set of absolute principles.
* Intuitionism suggests that there are things which are absolutely right or wrong.
* In Normative Ethics, there are relative and absolute moral codes. For example, in Natural Law (and therefore also in Naturalism), Aquinas would suggest that it is possible to observe that some actions are "right" and others "wrong".

What other ideas would you include?