...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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...of Ethical Terms”, Charles Leslie Stevenson (C.L. Stevenson), a professor of philosophy who taught at the University of Michigan, theorizes that the function of ethical statements is not to describe, but is rather to prescribe. He claims that language carries a type of meaning which he calls ‘emotive meaning’, rather than descriptive meaning and uses many examples of the term ‘good’ to establish his belief. He aims at showing that the notion of ‘good’ is equivalent to taking favor of something (“X is good”= “I like X”). Stevenson’s in-depth analysis of the concept of ‘good’ ultimately shows his readers the reality that the disagreement over whether something is good or not is just simply a disagreement in attitude. The first method used in determining the emotive meaning of ethical statements is to first address ethical questions in answering the question ‘Is X good?’ by what Stevenson calls ‘substitution’. He explains that in order to help understand this concept, the question must be substituted by a question that is free from ambiguity and confusion (Stevenson 370). It would not make sense to substitute this question with one that is irrelevant or with one that is the same as the question being assessed. He uses an example of substitution with the statement ‘Is X pink with yellow trimmings?’ This statement clearly has no relation to the original question and would cause confusion. The substituted question should not be identical to the original question as well. It should...
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...Guide to Preparing Your Essay Outline (N.B. This guide is to be read in conjunction with the ‘Introducing Philosophy’ booklet handed out at the beginning of the course) An essay outline for this course comprises two components: • A thesis statement • A section-by-section summary of the developing argument. • References A thesis statement Your essay should be a good philosophical argument. Such an argument, at minimum, provides good reasons in support of a conclusion. Thus, the first step in writing a good essay is to be clear of the conclusion, i.e. the claim that you are going to be defending. It should be possible to present the claim in no more than a sentence or two that tells the reader what it is that you will argue, and why and how. This is what is known as a thesis statement, and your essay outline should begin with this. A good thesis statement should: • Be no longer than a sentence or two • It should be something philosophically controversial (though not necessarily sensationalist), in that it should not merely be a statement of fact, nor of style, nor of context. • It should include a reference to the target idea or text. Examples: “Pascal’s (1632-62) famed defence of religious faith by appeal to the utility of believing in God rather than the truth of the belief is unsatisfactory since, although it professes to start from a position of metaphysical ignorance, in practice it smuggles in unwarranted assumptions...
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...theory. I will conclude by arguing that psychological egoism is implausible as it is incapable of being falsified, and fails to distinguish critical terms proposed in the theory. I will begin by defining psychological egoism. Psychological egoism is the view that people always act according to their self-interest. According to this view, our only intrinsic desires are desires for the advancement of our own self-interest. But we can still have instrumental desires for other things. Instrumental desires are desires that you have only because you believe that satisfying that desire will help you satisfy some other desire. For example, I may desire to write this paper only because I believe that by writing this paper I will get a good grade, and I desire to get a good grade; I don’t intrinsically desire to write this paper. Now that I have defined psychological egoism, I will contrast the theory with ethical egoism. Psychological egoism and ethical egoism differ in that psychological egoism is a descriptive view of human motivation stating that humans act to fulfill their wants and desires. For example, if Bob wanted to eat a hamburger, an explanation for this action would be that he had the desire to do so, and acted to fill that desire. Ethical egoism is a normative view stating that humans ought to seek...
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...Official Language of the United States.” By Brandon Brice gives a viewpoint of the struggles the United States has because of the diversity of language in the country. He argues by giving reasons why it would be beneficial for a legislation to make English the official and only language of the country, to which he argues would be a way to unite the American population. This article makes a clear statement from the beginning what the author will be talking about thought out the course. The title “Why English Should be the Official Language of the United States” is already a statement rather than a question. One can already...
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...We are all chairs. This statement encourages people to use empirical evidence to either reject or accept this claim. Mill says, “first: the opinion which it is attempted to suppress by authority may possibly be true” (Mill 9). This unusual statement creates a moment to check and see that we are not chairs. Once we do check, we are able to confirm with greater clarity that we are not chairs. Otherwise, as Mill puts it, “to refuse a hearing to an opinion, because they are sure that it is false, is to assume that their certainty is the same thing as absolute certainty” (Mill 9). Unless we at least check to make sure that we are not chairs, it is impossible to be absolutely certain that the claim is false. This concept raises an interesting question to society; is absolute certainty an attainable ambition? If you were to ask Mill that question, he would tell you that there is no such thing. However, “there is assurance sufficient for the purposes of human life” (Mill 10). This idea suggests that acceptance of a claim in society is possible, only if you presume that the claim is right. Furthermore, you may only presume a claim to hold truth if your opinion is open to question, if anyone is free to disprove your claim, and if no one does. In addition to this claim tempting us to take a moment to check if we are chairs, it also gives us an opportunity for further reflection on human nature. As Mill says, “it is the duty of governments, and of individuals, to form the truest opinions...
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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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...issue that Sontag addresses in her essay. Designate what type of questions at issue these are (definition, interpretation, consequence, value, or policy). * Sontag states that when people go on vacation and take photos that they are limiting the experience in the search to take a great picture to keep as a souvenir. (Value) * When someone is immobilized or cannot fully participate in an event, taking pictures is a way to still feel like you’ve been participating. 2. What are her claims/theses/arguments in response to these questions? Take passages directly from the text with page numbers next to them. * “A way of certifying experience, taking photographs is also a way of refusing it—by limiting experience to a search for the photogenic, by converting experience photograph, and move on.” 305 * “Being temporarily immobilized prevents him from acting on what he sees, and makes it even more important to take pictures. Even if incompatible with intervention in a physical sense, using a camera is still a form of participation.” 306 3. Now analyze each statement. How does she support her claims? Are her reasons sufficient/convincing/weak/absent? Why? * Her reason is pretty convincing. I know when I’ve went on vacation I was more concerned with taking really good pictures for everyone to see, rather than fully taking the full experience in. Most people who are really into taking pictures just look for good things to take photos of rather than looking at everything...
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...saying that Dred Scott was not a person, he was property and therefore could not file a lawsuit because he was not a citizen of the United States. They also declared that congress did not have power to outlaw slavery in any territory. Eventually someone bought Scott and set him free. In Chief Justice Taney’s statement the claim he makes is that Dred Scott is not a person, he was property and therefore could not file a lawsuit because he was not a citizen of the United States. Slaves do not count as citizens and do not apply to “we the people” in the Declaration of...
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...First of all, The hunger games is a series of books that has lots characterization and may apply to the 6th grade curriculum. To show the characterization in the book a statement that applies is, Katniss Everdeen is a strong young woman who shows bravery, courage, heroism, maturity, and much more, (sparknotes.com). This applies to the assertion because the statement is showing different traits of Katniss and this is what you call characterization. Secondly, in...
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...the information provided by the chairperson of the board, knowing that the client may not pay for the additional audit time spent. 2. What to tell the second client. Providing confidential information will violate the Code of professional conduct but if it is not provided, the second client may purchase Hi-Sail, which could be a bad investment, and the auditor might lose the second client. The parties are affected and their rights are 1. Management, including the president and controller, have the right to have the audit completed on a timely and cost-effective basis and to a proper consideration of their claims. 2. The board of directors, including the chairperson, have the right to insist that the financial statements be fairly presented by management and on a timely and effective audit. The chairperson has a right to be heard and to have the auditor obtain evidence to support or contradict his claims. 3. Current and prospective creditors and investors, including the second client and any other prospective purchaser of Hi-Sail, have the right to receive fairly presented financial statements on a timely basis and to an unbiased opinion on those statements. 4. The individual auditor and audit firm have the right to be paid for services rendered and to have access to all evidence needed to form an opinion on the statements. 5. The public accounting profession has the right to expect you and your firm to uphold the Code of Professional Conduct and to...
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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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...McCloskey makes many bold statements in opposition to the most common arguments for theism. To say the least, his bias shows through, even to the point of not seeing the deeper picture. He makes claims against the cosmological and teleological arguments. He then makes a point on how evil speaks against the existence of God. He then concludes with a statement that may or may not be supported by these statements (McCloskey, 1968). The Cosmological Argument McCloskey makes some statements about the necessity of a being that created the universe. He also makes some points about how this being cannot be perfect The Necessarily Existent Being It is amazing how people will require one set of standards for themselves, yet another set of standards for others. This is exemplified in the paper that is presented by H.J McCloskey. He States that proof is required for belief in a god (McCloskey, 1968, p. 51). But he also wants to believe in an origin of the universe in which a bunch of something without origin explodes to create hundreds of thousands of galaxies. Mr. McCloskey wishes to say that one must have proof before they believe. What Mr. McCloskey is not saying is that it would take proof to convince him not to believe in the manner he does. Mr. McCloskey has a belief system which serves his purposes. He has chosen a system that does not have enough solid defeaters to pull it apart. This allows Mr. McCloskey to settle into this belief and let it serve him for life. This statement is by...
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...Week 1 Knowledge CheckResults Concepts Arguments Mastery 100% Questions Score: 10/10 1 7 8 Issues 100% 2 5 9 Claims 100% 3 4 10 Topics 100% 6 Concept: Arguments Concepts Arguments Mastery 100% Questions 1 7 8 1.What would you call a set of claims intended to support or prove a conclusion? A. B. C. D. Argument Issue Opinion Reason Correct! An argument consists of two parts—one part (the premise or premises) is intended to provide a reason for accepting the other part (the conclusion). 7.An argument is made up of parts. Which of the following is most complete and accurate? A. B. C. D. An argument has a premise. An argument has a conclusion. An argument always has two premises and a conclusion. An argument has at least one premise and one conclusion. Correct! By definition, an argument is a two-part structure of claims. One part (the premise, or premises) is given as a reason (or reasons) for thinking that the other part (the conclusion) is true 8.Read each of the following statements. In which statement does the speaker offer an argument in support of the issue? A. "This year’s Super Bowl begins around 6:00 p.m. today, but the Fox pregame programming will start at 1:00. Why? Because we can sell it, said Ed Goren, co-executive producer of Fox Sports. The Super Bowl is about more. It is about excess." (Reported in The New York Times, January 26, 1997.) "They should never have referred to the savings...
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...universal principle for what actions are right and what are wrong. It is a form of consequentialism, which means it looks solely at the consequences of action to see if it is right or wrong. Utilitarianism is one of the best-known and most influential moral theories. Like other forms of consequentialism, its core idea is that whether actions are morally right or wrong depends on their effects. This paper lists This paper also explores numerous studies conducted on various facts behind the three disparate moral theories, aiming at providing a an adequate or workable foundation for ethics. To begin with, ethical egoism is an inadequate moral theory as moral conflicts are not resolved in ethical egoism. This theory is based upon a nature shared by human beings, i.e., people are self-interested. People are generally motivated to reap benefits for themselves. To fully understand the inherent flaw in ethnical egoism, certain principles behind the theory are explored. As a normative theory, ethical egoism sets the principle of how we ought to act, and somehow, it encourages a sense of selfishness. According to Lawrence Hinman, ethical egoism asserts that everyone should always act in their own self-interests (105), this assertion is flawed because it arbitrarily assumes that an agent’s inherently private motives are selfish. A weak version of ethnical egoism accepts the possibility of altruistic or benevolent behavior, but maintains that, whenever an agent makes a decision to act, the...
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