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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / b. Defining ethics

[can we specify exactly what ethics is?]

15 ideas
I suggest that we forget about trying to define goodness itself for the time being [Plato]
Morality and philosophy are mutually dependent [Novalis]
Ethics is the science of aims [Peirce]
Morality is a system of values which accompanies a being's life [Nietzsche]
Moore tries to show that 'good' is indefinable, but doesn't understand what a definition is [MacIntyre on Moore,GE]
Ethics cannot be put into words [Wittgenstein]
Some people think there are ethical facts, but of a 'queer' sort [Ayer]
A right attitude is just an attitude one is prepared to stand by [Ayer]
Morality shows murder is wrong, but not what counts as a murder [Foot]
Ethics is the conscious practice of freedom [Foucault]
Avoid punishment, then get rewards, avoid rejection, avoid guilt, accept contracts, follow conscience [Kohlberg, by Wilson,EO]
Selfhood and moral values are inextricably intertwined [Taylor,C]
Ethics is universalisable - it must involve an impartial and universal view of things [Singer]
Moral problems are responsibility conflicts, needing contextual and narrative attention to relationships [Gilligan]
The moral will is self-determining, but the ethical will is met in society [Houlgate]