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Full Idea
Moore tries to show that 'good' is indefinable by relying on a bad dictionary definition of 'definition'.
Gist of Idea
Moore tries to show that 'good' is indefinable, but doesn't understand what a definition is
Source
comment on G.E. Moore (Principia Ethica [1903]) by Alasdair MacIntyre - After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory Ch.2
Book Ref
MacIntyre,Alasdair: 'After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory' [Duckworth 1982], p.15
A Reaction
An interesting remark, with no further explanation offered. If Moore has this problem, then Plato had it too (see Idea 3032). I would have thought that any definition MacIntyre could offer would either be naturalistic, or tautological.
Related Idea
Idea 3032 I can form no notion of what the good is [Amphis]
2141 | I suggest that we forget about trying to define goodness itself for the time being [Plato] |
19582 | Morality and philosophy are mutually dependent [Novalis] |
14784 | Ethics is the science of aims [Peirce] |
7136 | Morality is a system of values which accompanies a being's life [Nietzsche] |
8039 | Moore tries to show that 'good' is indefinable, but doesn't understand what a definition is [MacIntyre on Moore,GE] |
2943 | Ethics cannot be put into words [Wittgenstein] |
6968 | Some people think there are ethical facts, but of a 'queer' sort [Ayer] |
6972 | A right attitude is just an attitude one is prepared to stand by [Ayer] |
22445 | Morality shows murder is wrong, but not what counts as a murder [Foot] |
7419 | Ethics is the conscious practice of freedom [Foucault] |
5319 | Avoid punishment, then get rewards, avoid rejection, avoid guilt, accept contracts, follow conscience [Kohlberg, by Wilson,EO] |
4003 | Selfhood and moral values are inextricably intertwined [Taylor,C] |
20289 | Ethics is universalisable - it must involve an impartial and universal view of things [Singer] |
18665 | Moral problems are responsibility conflicts, needing contextual and narrative attention to relationships [Gilligan] |
21788 | The moral will is self-determining, but the ethical will is met in society [Houlgate] |