Philosophy Questions
The first similarity between scientific and moral knowledge that Bambrough notes are the essence of truth and good. In moral knowledge, the focus is on the pursuit of good, which is similar to the scientific knowledge pursuit of the truth. He also sees another similarity in that logic is present in both moral and scientific arguments. Dissenting voices are another similarity between the two, where there is an agreement on the basic facts in both cases, but dissenting people always arise.
Why Mackie believes there are no objective values
Mackie argues that there cannot be absolute universal standards when it comes to moral truth. This is because establishing objective values would not be truly describing the reality. According to him, whenever one tries to make moral judgments, they are false, and this gives birth to the error theory that he supports.
The argument from the cultural relativity by Mackie
Cultural relativity postulated by Mackie rises from the grounds that people have inherently no knowledge of morality. To support this idea, he brings up the differences in morality that are built on culture. He argues that being relative is the only way through which morals can be understood. The argument is that one culture cannot be viewed as being moral since people from each culture should be allowed to perceive morals from their perspective.
The fault of relativists by Midgley
The faults in the logical coherence of relativist arguments inform Midgley's disagreement with relativists. She argues that when one understands a culture, they respect it and are allowed to judge it. She points out that relativists will lead to the desolation of moral reasoning since judging a foreign culture offers a reference upon which we can judge our own culture.
The example of trying one’s new sword
Midgley uses the example to highlight the wrongful nature of the arguments of moral isolationism. In the case of a Japanese Samurai, for instance, the culture requires them to test a sword by killing. Moral isolationism which Midgley is against, does not allow the judging such an action. This is a position, which Midgley views as unacceptable. The example serves to show how moral isolation is wrong and logically incoherent.
Works Cited
Shafer-Landau, Russ, ed. Ethical theory: an anthology. Vol. 13. John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
