IB Philosophy 4.2.1 the Origins and Nature of Moral Values Notes

What Are Moral Values?

1. The Normative Ethics sub-theme (4.1) examined how we should act by comparing deontological, teleological, and virtue-based theories.
2. Meta-ethics steps back from everyday moral questions (Should I lie? Should I help?) to ask deeper questions about the nature, origins, and status of morality itself. It does not ask "What should I do?" but rather "What am I actually doing when I make a moral judgement?"
3. The IB syllabus poses three guiding questions for this topic.
   1. First, what are moral values?
      1. Are they beliefs, attitudes, emotions, or something else entirely?
   2. Second, how do people come by their moral values?
      1. Are they innate, learned, rationally discovered, or culturally absorbed?
   3. Third, are moral values anything more than individual or group preferences?
4. A moral value is a standard or principle that a person or community holds concerning what is right, wrong, good, or bad.
   1. Values differ from mere preferences in that they carry a sense of obligation or authority: to say that honesty is a moral value is not merely to say that one prefers honesty but that honesty is something one ought to practice and that others ought to practice as well.
5. The question of whether moral values are genuinely normative (carrying real authority) or merely descriptive (reflecting what people happen to care about) is at the heart of meta-ethics.
6. If moral values are just preferences, saying "torture is wrong" expresses nothing more than a personal feeling of disapproval. If moral values are more than preferences, then moral claims have a kind of objective standing that demands respect.
7. This question connects directly to the overarching Unit 4 question: "Are there fundamental moral principles that apply in all situations?"
   1. If moral values originate in universal features of human nature or reason, then there may be principles that transcend cultural and individual differences.
   2. If moral values originate in culture, upbringing, or personal sentiment, then their authority may be limited to particular communities or individuals.

The First-Order and Meta-Ethical Distinction

1. The distinction between first-order ethics (normative ethics, asking what is right) and second-order ethics (meta-ethics, asking about the nature of rightness) is essential.

1. The theories examined in 4.1 each rest on hidden assumptions about morality. Kant's deontology assumes that moral truths are rationally discoverable, meaning reason alone can tell us what is right.
2. Utilitarianism presupposes that goodness can be measured (in terms of happiness or welfare). Virtue ethics presupposes that there is an objective account of human flourishing.
3. Meta-ethics examines whether these presuppositions are justified.
4. The three topics in this sub-theme build on each other.
   1. This topic (4.2.1) asks where moral values come from and what they are.
   2. Topic 4.2.2 asks what foundations (reason, emotion, natural law) support moral judgements.
   3. Topic 4.2.3 examines the language of ethics, asking what moral statements mean and whether they can be true or false.