具体描述
This 2001 book is a comprehensive study of the ethics of G. E. Moore, the most important English-speaking ethicist of the twentieth century. Moore's ethical project, set out in his seminal text Principia Ethica, is to preserve common moral insight from scepticism and, in effect, persuade his readers to accept the objective character of goodness. Brian Hutchinson explores Moore's arguments in detail and in the process relates the ethical thought to Moore's anti-sceptical epistemology. Moore was, without perhaps fully realizing it, sceptical about the very enterprise of philosophy itself, and in this regard, as Brian Hutchinson reveals, was much closer in his thinking to Wittgenstein than has been previously realized. This book shows Moore's ethical work to be much richer and more sophisticated than his critics have acknowledged.
G. E. Moore's Ethical Theory G. E. Moore, a towering figure in early 20th-century philosophy, remains a pivotal thinker in the realm of ethics. His seminal work, Principia Ethica, published in 1903, fundamentally reshaped ethical discourse, challenging prevailing moral theories and laying the groundwork for much of subsequent analytical ethics. This book delves into the core tenets of Moore's ethical philosophy, exploring his groundbreaking arguments and their enduring influence. At the heart of Moore's project is his insistence on the naturalistic fallacy. He argued that ethical terms like "good" cannot be defined in terms of natural properties, such as pleasure, happiness, or evolutionary advantage. To attempt such a definition, he claimed, is to commit a fallacy, akin to defining "yellow" in terms of wavelengths of light – while they are correlated, the definition is incomplete and ultimately misses the intrinsic nature of the concept. Moore famously used the "open question argument" to demonstrate this: for any proposed naturalistic definition of "good," one can always intelligibly ask, "But is it good?" If the answer is not trivially self-evident, then the definition is inadequate. This assertion led Moore to the concept of "good" as a simple, unanalyzable, and non-natural property. It is something that must be apprehended directly, through a form of intuition, rather than derived through reasoning or empirical observation. This intuition is not mystical but rather a straightforward recognition of what is intrinsically valuable. Moore believed that we know certain things are good in themselves, independent of any consequences or external validation. These are the ultimate ends that justify our actions and pursuits. Furthermore, Moore distinguished between two senses of "good": the intrinsic good and the good as a means. While intrinsic good refers to something valuable in and of itself, good as a means refers to something valuable because it leads to intrinsic good. This distinction is crucial for understanding his ethical consequentialism. Moore argued that the rightness of an action is determined by the amount of intrinsic good it produces. The more intrinsic good an action promotes, the more morally right it is. However, Moore's consequentialism is not a simple calculation of pleasure or pain. It is a more nuanced hedonism that recognizes a diversity of intrinsic goods, including pleasure, knowledge, beauty, and friendship. He believed that some of these goods are intrinsically more valuable than others, and that the greatest good is a complex of these non-natural properties. This complexity also extends to the idea of organic wholes, where the value of a whole is not simply the sum of its parts. For instance, a state of consciousness containing both pleasure and knowledge might be intrinsically more valuable than a state containing only pleasure, even if the pleasure in the latter is quantitatively greater. The book also examines Moore's epistemology of ethics. He believed that ethical knowledge is a priori, meaning it is not dependent on experience. We grasp fundamental ethical truths through a process of immediate apprehension, much like we grasp mathematical axioms. This intuitionism, while initially controversial, has found modern proponents in various forms. Moreover, Moore's ethical theory has significant implications for metaethics, the study of the nature of ethical judgments. His anti-realism regarding naturalistic definitions and his affirmation of non-natural properties offered a stark contrast to the positivist and behaviorist trends that would later dominate philosophy. His work provided a framework for exploring the meaning of ethical language and the justification of ethical claims in a way that resisted reductionism. The historical context of Moore's work is also explored, including his engagement with utilitarianism, intuitionism as previously understood, and the emerging pragmatism of his time. His rigorous analytical method, characterized by clarity of thought and precise argumentation, set a standard for philosophical inquiry. Finally, this book will consider the lasting legacy and ongoing relevance of G. E. Moore's ethical theory. Despite challenges and criticisms, his insights into the nature of "good," the rejection of naturalistic fallacy, and the importance of intrinsic value continue to inform contemporary debates in moral philosophy, offering a rich and indispensable resource for anyone seeking to understand the foundations of ethical thought.
