Key term
WJEC A-Level Religious Studies 603-0277-X
Christianity: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsChristianity
Christianity: Key Religious ConceptsChristianity
Christianity: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesChristianity
Christianity: Practices and Religious IdentityChristianity
Islam: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsIslam
Islam: Key Religious ConceptsIslam
Islam: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesIslam
Islam: Practices and Religious IdentityIslam
Judaism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsJudaism
Judaism: Key Religious ConceptsJudaism
Judaism: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesJudaism
Judaism: Practices and Religious IdentityJudaism
Buddhism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsBuddhism
Buddhism: Key Religious ConceptsBuddhism
Buddhism: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesBuddhism
Buddhism: Practices and Religious IdentityBuddhism
Hinduism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsHinduism
Hinduism: Key Religious ConceptsHinduism
Hinduism: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesHinduism
Hinduism: Practices and Religious IdentityHinduism
Sikhism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsSikhism
Sikhism: Key Religious ConceptsSikhism
Sikhism: Religious Life and Moral PrinciplesSikhism
Sikhism: Practices and Religious IdentitySikhism
Ethical Thought: Divine Command, Virtue and Egoism
Aquinas and Natural Law
Fletcher and Situation Ethics
Utilitarianism
Inductive Arguments for the Existence of God
Deductive Arguments for the Existence of God
The Problem of Evil and Suffering
The Nature of Religious Experience
Christianity: Texts, Authority and Key Figures
Christianity: Historical Developments in Religious Thought
Christianity: Social Developments in Religious Thought
Christianity: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues
Islam: Texts, Authority and Key Figures
Islam: Historical Developments in Religious Thought
Islam: Social Developments in Religious Thought
Islam: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues
Judaism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures
Judaism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought
Judaism: Social Developments in Religious Thought
Judaism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues
Buddhism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures
Buddhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought
Buddhism: Social Developments in Religious Thought
Buddhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues
Hinduism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures
Hinduism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought
Hinduism: Social Developments in Religious Thought
Hinduism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues
Sikhism: Texts, Authority and Key Figures
Sikhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought
Sikhism: Social Developments in Religious Thought
Sikhism: Movements, Change and Contemporary Issues
Meta-Ethics
Deontological Ethics: Finnis and Proportionalism
Determinism and Predestination
Free Will and Libertarianism
Psychological Challenges and Atheism
Religious Experience and Miracles
Religious Language: Cognitive and Analogical
Religious Language: Symbol, Myth and Language Games
New Testament: ParablesNew Testament
New Testament: MiraclesNew Testament
New Testament: The Letters (1 Peter)New Testament
Meta-Ethics
- 4 subtopics
- 12 things to know
- A2 Unit 4
What Meta-Ethics covers
Meta-Ethics is examined in A2 Unit 4, Religion and Ethics. It covers naturalism, F. H. Bradley and the naturalistic fallacy, intuitionism and H. A. Prichard, emotivism and A. J. Ayer and Evaluating the meta-ethical theories.
The 4 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Naturalism, F. H. Bradley and the naturalistic fallacyHume's Law, moore's open question argument and open question argument at work.Open →
- Intuitionism and H. A. PrichardRecall questions on moral laws and cognitivism, how a moral truth is discovered, fallibility, escaping the naturalistic fallacy, 'ought to do', two ways of thinking, and conflicting intuitions.Open →
- Emotivism and A. J. AyerRecall questions on what moral terms express, the boo-hurrah nickname, the movement behind it, verification, why it is not subjectivism, and whether moral debate becomes pointless.Open →
- Evaluating the meta-ethical theoriesRecall questions on ethical and non-ethical statements, objectivity, intuition as a route to moral terms, moral terms as emotion, the relative strength of the three positions, and moral debate.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Argue that the meta-ethical theories discourage moral debate.
Key term
Distinguish normative ethics from meta-ethics.
Key term
Why do intuitionists concede that intuition is not infallible?
Key term
How does Bradley connect ethics with science?
Key term
How does intuitionism preserve objective moral value?
Key term
Why is emotivism a non-cognitivist theory?
Key term
Give the case that ethical statements differ in kind from non-ethical ones.
Key term
Why does Hume's Law threaten ethical naturalism?
Key term
How, for Prichard, do we come to know what we ought to do?
Key term
How does emotivism explain the persistence of moral disagreement?
Key term
Argue that ethical statements are not objective.
Take Meta-Ethics further
The same content, four other ways.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is meta-ethics concerned with?
Model answer
It is concerned with the meaning and status of moral language, rather than with deciding which particular actions are right.
- 2
Distinguish normative ethics from meta-ethics.
Model answer
Normative ethics asks what a person ought to do, whereas meta-ethics asks what moral words mean and whether moral claims can be true.
- 3
What does ethical naturalism claim about moral laws?
Model answer
It claims objective moral laws exist independently of human beings and that moral terms can be understood by analysing the natural world.
- 4
Why is naturalism a cognitivist theory?
Model answer
Because it holds that ethical statements express genuine propositions which are true or false and can therefore be known.
- 5
How does a naturalist think a moral claim is tested?
Model answer
It is verified or falsified by evidence about the world, in the same way an empirical claim about nature is tested.
- 6
What status do verified moral statements have for a naturalist?
Model answer
They are objective truths that hold universally, rather than matters of taste or local opinion.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Meta-Ethics revision questions
- What does Meta-Ethics cover in WJEC A-Level Religious Studies?
- 4 subtopics: naturalism, f. h. bradley and the naturalistic fallacy, intuitionism and h. a. prichard, emotivism and a. j. ayer and evaluating the meta-ethical theories. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Meta-Ethics organised?
- By the WJEC 603-0277-X specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Meta-Ethics, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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