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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / c. Ethical intuitionism

[we have an in-built morality detector]

31 ideas
Plato never refers to examining the conscience [Plato, by Foucault]
Fear of God is not conscience, which is a natural feeling of offence at bad behaviour [Shaftesbury]
Butler exalts conscience, but it may be horribly misleading [Anscombe on Butler]
We approve of actions by a superior moral sense [Hutcheson]
We dislike a traitor, even if they give us great benefit [Hutcheson]
The moral sense is not an innate idea, but an ability to approve or disapprove in a disinterested way [Hutcheson]
We cannot choose our moral feelings, otherwise bribery could affect them [Hutcheson]
Everyone feels uneasy when seeing others in pain, unless the others are evil [Hutcheson]
Can't the moral sense make mistakes, as the other senses do? [Hutcheson]
The forefather of modern intuitionism is Richard Price [Price,R, by Dancy,J]
Conscience is the right of the self to know what is right and obligatory, and thus make them true [Hegel]
With early training, any absurdity or evil may be given the power of conscience [Mill]
Why do you listen to the voice of your conscience? [Nietzsche]
'Conscience' is invented to value actions by intention and conformity to 'law', rather than consequences [Nietzsche]
Moore's combination of antinaturalism with strong supervenience on the natural is incoherent [Hanna on Moore,GE]
Despite Moore's caution, non-naturalists incline towards intuitionism [Moore,GE, by Smith,M]
Ross said moral principles are self-evident from the facts, but not from pure thought [Ross, by Dancy,J]
The moral convictions of thoughtful educated people are the raw data of ethics [Ross]
I would describe intuitions of good as feelings of approval [Ayer]
Moral intuition is worthless if there is no criterion to decide between intuitions [Ayer]
How can intuitionists distinguish universal convictions from local cultural ones? [Hare]
You can't use intuitions to decide which intuitions you should cultivate [Hare]
Intuitionism has been demolished by critics, and no longer looks interesting [Williams,B]
Following an inner voice for morality is irresponsible in a rational agent [Singer]
Mention of 'intuition' in morality means something has gone wrong with the argument [MacIntyre]
Internalists say that moral intuitions are motivating; externalist say a desire is also needed [Dancy,J]
Obviously judging an action as wrong gives us a reason not to do it [Dancy,J]
Moral facts are not perceived facts, but perceived reasons for judgements [Dancy,J]
If there are intuited moral facts, why should we care about them? [Dancy,J]
The main objection to intuitionism in ethics is that intuition is a disguise for prejudice or emotion [Blackburn]
Moral intuition seems unevenly distributed between people [Rowlands]