Ethics is the study of morality, the question of what is “right” and what is “wrong;” what is “good” and what is “bad.” Ethics is something we begin to learn about as children and we develop our sense of morality.
Have you ever wondered about the very foundation of morality? Have you questioned whether the human ability to form moral judgment is anchored in truth or in pure subjectivity?
If so, metaethics is the place to be. This realm of philosophy inquires into the basics, language of and metaphysics of ethics.
Metaethics Made Simple
Metaethics is not about answering specific moral questions. Instead it digs into the underlying structure of morality itself.
Example. If Jack has a belief that stealing is wrong, that is a moral judgement. But that isn’t the only moral judgment that Jack has made. This particular belief is a tree in a forest of moral judgment trees.
Metaethics is the zoomed out view, it is not inspecting the individual trees, but analyzing the landscape of the moral thought forest.
Intrigued?
If the study of morality appeals to you, there are three main questions to delve into.
- What is the Nature of Morality?: Is is a set of objective facts waiting to be discovered, or is it more about personal feelings and societal agreements that can change over time? This question takes the student into the heart of moral realism versus anti-realism.
- Do Objective Moral Facts Exist?: Do statements like “stealing is wrong” refer to something universally true? Or is a subjective statement? This takes the student into the clash between moral objectivism and moral subjectivism.
- What is Moral Language? : When we say something is “good” or “bad,” are we making factual claims or expressing our emotional perspective? Now the student takes the path of moral cognitivism versus non-cognitivism.
Who Cares?
Why study metaethics? Why indeed?
Philosophers wrote about it because the act of studying human behavior shapes how ethical experiences are navigated in daily life.
For Jack, our example from earlier, a study of metaethics invites him to question the root of his belief that stealing is wrong. How did he come to that conclusion? How true is it for him? For others?
This through process, in turn, leads to the ability to appreciate and learn from diverse perspectives that shape the ethical landscape in which we live.
Prune Your Trees for a Beautiful Forest
What is right? What is wrong? What is good? What is bad? You get to decide; Challenge the very essence of what makes it so.