An appraisal of naturalism in contemporary meta-ethics
The view that ethics is a discipline which can operate within the constraints of naturalism, whereby all principles, properties and terms are accessible to natural science, can be subdivided into <i>logical</i>, <i>semantic</i>, and <i>synthetic</i>. <i>Logical naturalists</i> defend the naturalist claim with an appeal to the validity of the logical progression from premises without moral terms to conclusions with them. <i>Semantic naturalists</i> defend it with an appeal to an analytical equivalence between certain nonmoral and moral expressions. Both of these approaches have been thoroughly criticised in this century. Relatively recently, naturalists have begun to defend their naturalist thesis not from either of these perspectives, but with a direct appeal to synthetic facts which can be employed or referred to in scientific explanations. Effective critique of naturalist theories of this newer type involves examination of both the scientific and the ethical claims made. One such <i>synthetic naturalist</i> approach to ethics is the evolutionary naturalism proposed by Michael Ruse. Critique based on a thorough examination of both the science of sociobiology and the moral philosophy involved in Ruse's theory
Lahti, David Christopher
Ethical naturalism; Sociobiology
An appraisal of naturalism in contemporary meta-ethics. The view that ethics is a discipline which can operate within the constraints of naturalism, whereby all principles, properties and terms are accessible to natural science, can be subdivided into <i>logical</i>, <i>semantic</i>, and <i>synthetic</i>. <i>Logical naturalists</i> defend the naturalist claim with an appeal to the validity of the logical progression from premises without moral terms to conclusions with them. <i>Semantic naturalists</i> defend it with an appeal to an analytical equivalence between certain nonmoral and moral expressions. Both of these approaches have been thoroughly criticised in this century. Relatively recently, naturalists have begun to defend their naturalist thesis not from either of these perspectives, but with a direct appeal to synthetic facts which can be employed or referred to in scientific explanations. Effective critique of naturalist theories of this newer type involves examination of both the scientific and the ethical claims made. One such <i>synthetic naturalist</i> approach to ethics is the evolutionary naturalism proposed by Michael Ruse. Critique based on a thorough examination of both the science of sociobiology and the moral philosophy involved in Ruse's theory
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