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Intuitivist
Ethical intuitionism (also called moral intuitionism) is a view or family of views in moral epistemology (and, on some definitions, metaphysics). It is foundationalism applied to moral knowledge, the thesis that some moral truths can be known non-inferentially (i.e., known without one needing to infer them from other truths one believes). Such an epistemological view is by definition committed to the existence of knowledge of moral truths; therefore, ethical intuitionism implies cognitivism. As a foundationalist epistemological position, ethical intuitionism contrasts with coherentist positions in moral epistemology, such as those that depend on reflective equilibrium. Despite the name "ethical intuitionism", ethical intuitionists need not (though often do) accept that intuitions of value (or of evaluative facts) form the foundation of ethical knowledge; the common commitment of ethical intuitionists is to a non-inferential foundation for ethical knowledge, regardless of whet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Huemer
Michael Huemer (; born December 27, 1969) is an American professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has defended ethical intuitionism, direct realism, metaphysical libertarianism, phenomenal conservatism, substance dualism, reincarnation, the repugnant conclusion, and philosophical anarchism. Education and career Huemer graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned his Ph.D. at Rutgers University in 1998 under the supervision of Peter D. Klein. Philosophical work Huemer is a philosophical dualist and an agnostic. His 2005 book, ''Ethical Intuitionism'', was reviewed in ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'', '' Philosophy and Phenomenological Research'', and ''Mind.'' In 2013, he published '' The Problem of Political Authority'', in which he argues that modern arguments for political authority fail and that society can function properly without state coercion. Phenomenal conservatism Huemer has defended phenomenal conservat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. In his early life, overshadowed by his father's departure following a fight, he was taken under the care of his wealthy uncle. Hobbes's academic journey began in Malmesbury#Westport St Mary, Westport, leading him to the University of Oxford, where he was exposed to classical literature and mathematics. He then graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1608. He became a tutor to the Cavendish family, which connected him to intellectual circles and initiated his extensive travels across Europe. These experiences, including meetings with figures like Galileo, shaped his intellectual development. After returning to England from France in 1637, Hobbes witnessed the destruction and br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naturalism (philosophy)
In philosophy, naturalism is the idea that only Scientific law, natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural ones) operate in the universe. In its primary sense, it is also known as ontological naturalism, metaphysical naturalism, pure naturalism, philosophical naturalism and antisupernaturalism. "Ontological" refers to ontology, the philosophical study of what exists. Philosophers often treat naturalism as equivalent to materialism, but there are important distinctions between the philosophies. For example, philosopher Paul Kurtz argued that nature is best accounted for by reference to Matter, material principles. These principles include mass, energy, and other Physical property, physical and Chemical property, chemical properties accepted by the scientific community. Further, this sense of naturalism holds that spirits, Deity, deities, and ghosts are not real and that there is no "Teleology, purpose" in nature. This stronger formulation of naturalism is commonly ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logical Positivism
Logical positivism, also known as logical empiricism or neo-positivism, was a philosophical movement, in the empiricist tradition, that sought to formulate a scientific philosophy in which philosophical discourse would be, in the perception of its proponents, as authoritative and meaningful as empirical science. Logical positivism's central thesis was the verification principle, also known as the "verifiability criterion of meaning", according to which a statement is ''cognitively meaningful'' only if it can be verified through empirical observation or if it is a tautology (true by virtue of its own meaning or its own logical form). The verifiability criterion thus rejected statements of metaphysics, theology, ethics and aesthetics as ''cognitively meaningless'' in terms of truth value or factual content. Despite its ambition to overhaul philosophy by mimicking the structure and process of empirical science, logical positivism became erroneously stereotyped as an agenda t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prima Facie Duties
''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning "at first sight", or "based on first impression". The literal translation would be "at first face" or "at first appearance", from the feminine forms of ' ("first") and ' ("face"), both in the ablative case. In modern, colloquial, and conversational English, a common translation would be "on the face of it". The term ''prima facie'' is used in modern legal English (including both civil law and criminal law) to signify that upon initial examination, sufficient corroborating evidence appears to exist to support a case. In common law jurisdictions, a reference to ''prima facie evidence'' denotes evidence that, unless rebutted, would be sufficient to prove a particular proposition or fact. The term is used similarly in academic philosophy. Most legal proceedings, in most jurisdictions, require a ''prima facie'' case to exist, following which proceedings may then commence to test it, and create a ruling. The similar ''ex facie'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naturalistic Fallacy
In metaethics, the naturalistic fallacy is the claim that it is possible to define good in terms of merely described entities, properties, or processes such as ''pleasant'', ''desirable'', or '' fitness''. The term was introduced by British philosopher G. E. Moore in his 1903 book ''Principia Ethica''. Moore's naturalistic fallacy is closely related to the is–ought problem, which comes from David Hume's '' Treatise of Human Nature'' (1738–40); however, unlike Hume's view of the is–ought problem, Moore (and other proponents of ethical non-naturalism) did not consider the naturalistic fallacy to be at odds with moral realism. Common uses The is–ought problem The term ''naturalistic fallacy'' is sometimes used to label the problematic inference of an ''ought'' from an ''is'' (the is–ought problem). Michael Ridge relevantly elaborates that " e intuitive idea is that evaluative conclusions require at least one evaluative premise—purely factual premises about the na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Principia Ethica
''Principia Ethica'' is a book written in 1903 by British philosopher G. E. Moore. Moore questions a fundamental pillar of ethics, specifically what the definition of "good" is. He concludes that "good" is indefinable because any attempts to do so commit the naturalistic fallacy. ''Principia Ethica'' was influential, with Moore's arguments being considered ground-breaking advances in the field of moral philosophy. Publication history ''Principia Ethica'' was first published in October 1903 by Cambridge University Press. It was reprinted in 1922 and 1929. An Italian translation by Gianni Vattimo, with a preface by Nicola Abbagnano, was published by Bompiani in 1964. Summary Moore suggests that ethics is about three basic questions: (1) "what is good?" (which is noted as the most important of the three), (2) "what things are good or bad in themselves?", and (3) "what is good as a means?". What is ''good?'' The first question is concerned with the nature and definition of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Does Moral Philosophy Rest On A Mistake?
"Does Moral Philosophy Rest on a Mistake?" is an article published by H. A. Prichard in ''Mind'' in 1912. It discusses the validity of the question "Why be moral?". Content Prichard begins by describing "a vague sense of dissatisfaction with the whole subject" which led to him writing the paper. He finds this dissatisfaction to have its origin in attempts to answer the question "Why be moral?". He argues that such answers reduced to the two following cases: Prichard argues that both of these answers miss the mark (though for different reasons). He surveys the answers given by Plato, Aristotle, Joseph Butler, Kant, and his utilitarian peers (such as Hastings Rashdall). In his view, the only reason to what is right is that it is right. Our sense of our duty is "absolutely underivative or immediate", something which "we do not come to appreciate ..by an argument, i.e. by a process of non-moral thinking". As he was to put it in a later manuscript, It happens that "inevitably th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Analytic Philosophers
Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mathematics, and to a lesser degree the natural sciences.Mautner, Thomas (editor) (2005) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy'', entry for "Analytic philosophy", pp. 22–23 It is further characterized by an interest in language, semantics and meaning, known as the linguistic turn. It has developed several new branches of philosophy and logic, notably philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of science, modern predicate logic and mathematical logic. The proliferation of analysis in philosophy began around the turn of the 20th century and has been dominant since the latter half of the 20th century. Central figures in its historical development are Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Other important figures ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deontological Ethics
In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek: and ) is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules and principles, rather than based on the consequences of the action. It is sometimes described as duty-, obligation-, or rule-based ethics. Deontological ethics is commonly contrasted to consequentialism, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and pragmatic ethics. In this terminology, action is more important than the consequences. The term ''deontological'' was first used to describe the current, specialised definition by C. D. Broad in his 1930 book, ''Five Types of Ethical Theory''. Older usage of the term goes back to Jeremy Bentham, who coined it prior to 1816 as a synonym of ''dicastic'' or ''censorial ethics'' (i.e., ethics based on judgement). The more general sense of the word is retained in French, especially in the term ''code de déontologie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Sidgwick
Henry Sidgwick (; 31 May 1838 – 28 August 1900) was an English Utilitarianism, utilitarian philosopher and economist and is best known in philosophy for his utilitarian treatise ''The Methods of Ethics''. His work in economics has also had a lasting influence. He was the Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy, Knightbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1883 until his death. He was one of the founders and first president of the Society for Psychical Research and a member of the Metaphysical Society and promoted the higher education of women. In 1875, with Millicent Garrett Fawcett, he co-founded Newnham College, a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was the second Cambridge college to admit women, after Girton College, Cambridge, Girton College. In 1856, Sidgwick joined the Cambridge Apostles intellectual secret society. Biography Henry Sidgwick was born at Skipton in Yorkshire, where his father, the Reverend W. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utilitarianism
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the greatest good for the greatest number. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different characterizations, the basic idea that underpins them all is, in some sense, to maximize utility, which is often defined in terms of well-being or related concepts. For instance, Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, described ''utility'' as the capacity of actions or objects to produce benefits, such as pleasure, happiness, and good, or to prevent harm, such as pain and unhappiness, to those affected. Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong. Unlike other forms of consequentialism, such as egoism and altruism, egalitarian util ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
