...Prescriptivism in relation to ethical language is ethical statements that are about what we think ought to be done. Meaning that when people say something they want to prescribe their views on others. Invented by hare he argued for universalizability, if you refer one thing rather than another then you think this would be good for everyone. In prescriptivism there are four basic ideas. 1. Morality must be about doing not just thinking if you believe. 2. Something is right you must act on it and actually do it. Has to be consistent 3. Moral beliefs must be kept in harmony with other in other words cant cause war. 4. Cannot be a hypocrite He states that ethical statements are universalizable but this does not mean that they are objective. However there is also another non-cognitivst concept of ethical language. Emotivism came out of the logical positivist position of the Vienna circle. They believe that absolute truths were based on the empirical scientific knowledge. After developing the verification principle they concluded that neither religious nor ethical language can be verified. Ayer’s solution to the problem of ethical language is known as Emotivism. Or the boo hurrah theory. It argues that out moral are determined by our feelings and opinions of others. When we say that something is good it is like an emotional response that says hurrah to it and if we say something is bad it is like we are booing it. E.g to commandments says stealing is wrong, cannot prove this through...
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...“All Ethical Language is prescriptive” Discuss (35) The Philosopher R.M. Hare came up with the idea of prescriptivism and what he meant by this basically was that other people should agree with a statement and follow it due to ethical statements having an intrinsic sense. The role of ethical statements is to say what ‘ought’ to be done and such prescriptions are moral because they are universal. Hare then goes on to talk about the word ‘good’ and that we should always link it in relation to a set of standards, and this therefore means it has a descriptive meaning, however if we use the word ‘good’ in a moral sense it also has a prescriptive meaning. Hare is saying that there is a difference between a descriptive and prescriptive meaning, but when we use words with an ethical meaning, we use them prescriptively. However there are criticisms to Hare’s theory like you should put yourself in another person’s shoes before making a judgement as one person’s preferences may be different from another person. On the other hand philosopher G.E. Moore came up with the idea of intuitionism and he said that the word ‘good’ was indefinable and one prime example he used was that we know what ‘yellow’ is and can recognise it, but we can’t actually define what it is and he also says this about the word ‘good’. Moore also said that we can still say whether a moral statement is true or false through our intuition and that we can recognise good when we see it. There are also criticisms to this...
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...The branch of ethics that discusses the meaning and indeed the validity of the word good is called Meta-ethics, meaning ‘beyond' ethics lies ethical language. From here there are two separate branches, cognitive; where "goodness" can be known as an analytic (Moore) or synthetic (naturalists like Mill) property of the world and non-cognitive; where "goodness" cannot be know as a property of the world. Within the non-cognitivists are another group called emotivists, they uphold the view that the word good is merely an expression of feeling. I partially agree with the emotivists view that moral statements are merely an expression of feeling, but I also think that as the ‘good is so exceedingly ambiguous' (Stevenson) that any of the meta-ethical theories have validity to them. Emotivism says that moral statements merely express positive or negative feelings; it is mainly based on better to say, "it's an empirical tradition which stems from..." the work of the Scottish philosopher and empiricist Hume and the idea of Hume's fork. "When you pronounce any action or character to be vicious, you mean... you have a feeling or sentiment of blame." - David Hume. This idea was taken forward by A.J. Ayer who also believed that moral statements were primarily expressions of emotion, hence Emotivism, his theory has been called Hurrah-Boo theory An example of this is to imagine you and a friend are at a football game supporting different teams. When one team scores you cheer and your friend...
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...The branch of ethics that discusses the meaning and indeed the validity of the word good is called Meta-ethics, meaning ‘beyond' ethics lies ethical language. From here there are two separate branches, cognitive; where "goodness" can be known as an analytic or synthetic property of the world and non-cognitive; where "goodness" cannot be known as a property of the world. Within the non-cognitivists are another group called emotivists, they uphold the view that the word good is merely an expression of feeling. Some would agree with the emotivists’ view that moral statements are merely an expression of feeling, but may also hold the view that as the ‘good is so exceedingly ambiguous' that any of the meta-ethical theories have validity to them. Emotivism says that moral statements merely express positive or negative feelings; it is mainly based on better to say "it's an empirical tradition which stems from..." The work of the Scottish philosopher and empiricist Hume and the idea of Hume's fork. "When you pronounce any action or character to be vicious, you mean... you have a feeling or sentiment of blame." This idea was taken forward by A.J. Ayer who also believed that moral statements were primarily expressions of emotion, hence Emotivism; his theory has been called Hurrah-Boo theory. An example of this is to imagine you and a friend are at a football game supporting different teams. When one team scores you cheer and your friend boos. According to this view, saying ‘euthanasia...
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...Is ethical language meaningless? Discuss. Ethical language is meaningless. The analysis of ethical language is called meta-ethics. Meta-ethics looks at the meaning of the language used in ethics and includes questions such as: are ethical claims capable of being true or false, or are they expressions of emotion? If true, is that truth only relative to some individual, society or culture. Meta-ethics is broken down into cognitive and non-cognitive theories. This shows that there are two contrasting opinions to whether ethical language is meaningless. Cognitive theories of meta-ethics. Ethical naturalism is a cognitive theory of meta-ethics. Ethical naturalism or ethical cognitivism is the theory that moral values can be derived from sense experience. Ethical naturalism looks into cognitive and objective statements, it states ethical and non-ethical statements are the same, also that ethical statements can be verified and falsified. Criticisms of ethical naturalism – the naturalistic fallacy. The naturalistic fallacy is the claim that good cannot be defined. G.E. Moore argued against ethical naturalism and called the attempt to identify goodness with a natural quality a mistake. He uses the naturalistic fallacy to do this. Intuitionism – G.E. Moore. Intuitionism is the theory that moral truths are known by intuition. Moore’s intuitionism is a cognitive theory itself. It states good is indefinable, there are objective moral truths and we know these moral truths by intuitionism...
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...To what extent is ethical language meaningful (35 Marks) The analysis of ethical language is called meta-ethics and what Meta-ethics does is look at the meaning of the language that is used in ethical statements and it includes questions about whether those statements are true or false or whether those statements are just expressions of emotion and if it is the truth then is it the truth for everybody or just a select few depending on society and culture, Meta-Ethics Is broken down into two sections and they are called cognitive and non-cognitive and these are two different perspectives on the meaningfulness of ethical language. Cognitivism involves a view that states moral knowledge is possible and therefore all ethical statements can be meaningful because they can be proved whether they are true or false. Non Cognitivism on the other hand involves the belief that there can be no ethical knowledge because ethical language and statements give no factual information and therefore they are not as meaningful as they are not subject to the true or false test and this approach suggests that they are just expressions of emotion and prescriptive recommendations. The naturalistic fallacy is a form of ethical non-naturalism and it was devised by G.E Moore and Moore believed that the term “good” is a simple term like “that’s yellow” and it couldn’t be defined and he also believed that we couldn’t prove moral statements through the use of evidence, Moore also believed that the only...
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...an effective way to communicate between people and communities that have a different way of speaking. Attitudes toward the use of Standard and non-Standard English varies depending on upbringing, culture and subjectiveness. Due to the advancements in technology, many people have shifted from using Standard to non-Standard because the rules and grammar are more flexible making it easier to use. It’s no surprise this is happening, as Standard English is not easy to learn and use. *** Body Paragraph 1 The most significant variety of English is Standard English. * history of the British empire * effective way of communicating Body Paragraph 2 Standard English is used as a benchmark. * used in dictionaries, etc. * prescriptivism Body Paragraph 3 Standard English is optional and should remain this way in means of communication. * difficulty of Standard English * tends to be more applicable to written language * flexibility of rules and grammar http://year11englishlanguage2013.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/should-we-use-standard-english-all-time.html http://www.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=27526.0 http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/494993.html...
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...Normative ethics seeks to establish norms or standards of conduct; a crucial question in this field is whether actions are to be judged right or wrong based on their consequences or based on their conformity to some moral rule, such as “Do not tell a lie.” Theories that adopt the former basis of judgment are called consequentialist (see consequentialism); those that adopt the latter are known as deontological (see deontological ethics). Metaethics is concerned with the nature of ethical judgments and theories. Since the beginning of the 20th century, much work in metaethics has focused on the logical and semantic aspects of moral language. Some major metaethical theories are naturalism (see naturalistic fallacy), intuitionism, emotivism, and prescriptivism. Applied ethics, as the name implies, consists of the application of normative ethical theories to practical moral problems (e.g., abortion). Among the major fields of applied ethics are bioethics, business ethics, legal ethics, and medical ethics. 1. Clearly define the ethical problem. The ethical problem is if I should be honest and report this security breech. 2. Employ applicable laws and regulations. I would have to check my unit's internal Standard Operation Procedures to determine what the regulations are regarding proper disposal of classified documents. 3. Reflect on the ethical values and their ramifications. There are seven core Army values. I don't believe that all seven apply to this situation, but I will reflect...
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...questions – Yule, Chapter 4 | 6 2/18 | Morphology Grammar | * Yule, Chapter 6 & 7 * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y8aLt4kLcI | Yule Chapter 6 & 7 | 7 2/21 | Word formation | * Yule, Chapter 5 * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca0xFvMfcqo&feature=related | Classroom questions | 8 2/25 | Semantics | * Yule, Chapter 9 * Hooten, “Fighting words: The war over language.” http://professorverspoor.pbworks.com/w/file/45295489/Hooten%2B-%2BFighting%2BWords.pdf | Yule study questions -- Chapter 9 | 9 2/28 | Grammar (prescriptive vs. descriptive) | * Simon, “Why good English is good for you” http://wolfweb.unr.edu/homepage/calabj/pdf/Simon.pdf Video: Do You Speak American (prescriptivism vs. prescriptivism) | Classroom...
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...and doesn’t discuss it in depth, but his paper contains a lot of the arguments Green addresses in her chapter. One is the idea that AAVE, or any ‘improper’ version of English, is bad because it is less intelligible than SAE. He also continuously describes speakers of nonstandard English as lazy and unintelligent, which Green also tries to refute in her writing. The third reading is a chapter entitled Prescription and Standardization, by Jim and Lesley Milroy. They talk about language prescription, and discuss that while its aims are often positive, it is also often unsuccessful in spoken language. They discuss how prescriptivism is often harmful, and the rules of language are constantly shifting. For an example, they point out that double negatives, while seen as ungrammatical today, have been traditionally used in literary English. They also discuss how prescriptivism and standardization can be used as a tool of political control. While it does not actually discuss AAVE in any detail, many of these arguments echo Green’s ideas about how the promotion of SAE is harmful to AAVE speakers and often motivated by racism. The fourth reading is an article by Geoffrey K. Pullum, Language that dare not speak its name. This reading, unlike most of the readings before, is explicitly about AAVE. In his article, he points out that, while AAVE is often seen as a collection of random errors, it has consistent rules like any other language. He also discusses the racist motivations behind opposing...
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...------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Bottom of Form Understanding Prescriptive vs. Descriptive Grammar When people hear about linguistics, they often believe that linguists are very much like the character Henry Higgins in the play My Fair Lady, who expresses sentiments like in the following song, where he bemoans the state of English and the lack of proper pronunciation: However, as you will learn in this first week of class, there are two different ways that language has been talked about in disciplines that focus on the use of language. We can talk about these different approaches to language as descriptive grammar vs. prescriptive grammar. Prescriptive grammar describes when people focus on talking about how a language should or ought to be used. One way to remember this association is to think of going to a doctor’s office. When a doctor gives you a prescription for medication, it often includes directions about how you should take your medication as well as what you should not do when taking your medication. In a similar way, a prescriptive grammar tells you how you should speak, and what type of language to avoid. This is commonly found in English classes as well as other language classes, where the aim is to teach people how to use language in a very particular (typically described as ‘proper’ or ‘correct’) way. Descriptive grammar, on the other hand, focuses on describing the language as it is used, not saying how it should be used. For...
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...Meta Ethics ‘Ethical language has no purpose as it does not provide any answers.’ Discuss. ‘Understanding ethical language can help in making moral decisions.’ Discuss ‘Prescriptivism means that words such as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ have absolute meanings.’ Discuss ‘Learning what ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ mean is the most important purpose of ethical language.’ Discuss To what extent is ethical language meaningful? Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of emotivism. Virtue Ethics ‘The problem with Virtue Ethics is that it gives no definite answers to moral problems.’ Discuss. ‘Virtue ethics is not the best approach to ethical decision making.’ Discuss ‘Modern virtue ethics is very different from those taught by Aristotle.’ Discuss Explain the strengths and weaknesses of Virtue Ethics. Conscience Assess the view that conscience should always be obeyed. ‘Conscience is innate.’ Discuss ‘Conscience is vital when making moral decisions.’ Discuss. Assess the view that conscience is not a reliable guide to ethical decision making. ‘Conscience need not always be obeyed.’ Discuss ‘Conscience is a reliable moral guide.’ Discuss Assess the view that conscience need not always be obeyed. Evaluate the claim that conscience is the voice of God. Sexual Ethics ‘Sex and relationships are matters of personal choice.’ Discuss. ‘Virtue ethics is a good approach to the issues surrounding sex and relationships.’ Discuss ‘No ethical theory offers a satisfactory approach to issues...
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...Ethical language has no meaning. Discuss (35 Marks) The meaning and function of ethical language is the focus of meta-ethics. It can be discussed whether ethical language has any meaning at all by looking at different perspectives. An ethical naturalist would say that all ethical statements are the same as non-ethical ones; they’re factual and can, therefore, be true or false. So ‘Thomas More was executed for his beliefs in 1535’ and ‘Thomas More was a good man’ can be proved true or false by looking at the evidence. If we can find evidence, we can conclude that Thomas More was good and if not, we can conclude he was not. The same holds for any moral issue for example if one wants to know if euthanasia is right or wrong. They simply look at the evidence so they can test the accuracy of the statement, and from this they could argue that euthanasia ends suffering for an individual, therefore euthanasia is right. Ethical naturalist is an objective and cognitive theory, which means that they claim that there are moral facts and that they can be known, perhaps through reason, or through revelation and that they are true for everyone, for all time. Therefore ethical naturalists see ethical language as meaningful because they argue that ethical language has an underlined content of purpose. For example a knife is good if it cuts sharply. Therefore ethical language is showing what terms such as ‘good’ mean through the content of purpose within an ethical statement and is therefore...
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...Hyewon Nam Professor Amy Goldman GPS Writing Workshop Section010 3:15PM 13 March, 2014 Reckoning with Research—Final Draft The Double-sided Blade: Gender Stereotype Often times, the word “gender discrimination” brings out the image as women being the victims and men as the attackers. Such notion is proven by the simple fact that the word “feminism” is known and used every day while “masculinism” is not. In this context, Betty Friedan, author of the Feminine Mystique, raises question on stereotypes based on gender. She fiercely argues for the housewives whose lives are mainly comprised of being mothers and housewives. Freidan expresses her central issue by asking the question “these women have no dreams of career, no visions of a world larger than the home; their only ambition, their only dream is realized [as mothers and housewives]. But were they fulfilled women?” (Friedan, 225). Friedan’s text is a representation of people’s perception of gender discrimination—women kept in households with their world revolving around domestic matters rather than the world outside of their homes. Although it is true that women did and still do suffer these tilted standards of society, a more holistic view should be sought in terms of acknowledging the suffering of both genders. Betty Friedan, in her writing The Feminine Mystique, identifies how gender stereotypes have confined women by examining the white, American, middle-class housewives in the suburbs. The time frame is limited...
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...the wishful thinking argument. I will then outline the expressionist’s responses to the wishful thinking argument using David Enoch and James Lenman’s solutions to the problem, and show the flaws in their arguments. Therefore I will come to the conclusion that the wishful thinking argument is a valid objection to non-cognitivism. Non-Cognitivism Non cognitivism is the objection to the claim the moral facts express belief. According to this view they are not either true or false, neither do the assert anything about the world. Seeing as moral facts cannot be seen as true and no one can have knowledge of something that is not true, non-cognitivism implies the moral knowledge is impossible. The three main forms of non-cognitivism are; prescriptivism, emotivism and expressivism. In this essay I will be addressing the problems found in the expressivism branch of non-cognitivism. Expressivism Expressivism is the view that sentences about moral facts are not to descriptive terms, and do not relate to the real world problems. They are used for expressing either positive or negative attitude towards the object of the sentence. The Wishful-thinking argument This is an argument that rejects non-cognitivism presented by Cian Dorr (2002). The outline of this argument is the fact that we can come to a conclusion about how the world is, based on our desires about how we would like the world to be is wishful thinking (Schroeder, 2010, pp. 172-185). It should not be rational for us to accept...
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