J. L. Mackie: Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong

question 5

Essay

J. L. Mackie: Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong
Mackie's position, which he calls "moral skepticism" but has come to be more commonly known as "the error theory," involves two central claims. First, Mackie claims that ordinary moral discourse contains a "claim to objectivity." When someone makes a moral claim-e.g., that abortion is immoral-they do not mean to merely express their feelings or issue a command. Rather, they are seeking to describe an intrinsic feature of the action in question-in this case, that abortion is objectively the sort of thing that ought not to be done. Second, Mackie claims that objective moral values do not exist. It follows from these two theses that all moral claims are false.
Mackie gives two main arguments for his claim that objective values do not exist. The Argument from Relativity maintains that variation in moral judgments, both between individuals and between societies, is best explained by the hypothesis that moral judgments reflect ways of life rather than objective moral facts. If so, Mackie claims, there is good reason to believe that moral facts do not exist. The second argument, the Argument from Queerness, has two parts, one metaphysical and one epistemological. Metaphysically, if objective values did exist, they would be completely unlike anything else in the universe, in that they would give us reasons for action independently of what we happen to desire or aim at. Epistemologically, if such values existed, they would have to be known by some special faculty of intuition, completely different from our other ways of knowing about the world. Because it is implausible that such strange facts or faculties exist, Mackie claims, we should accept that no objective values exist. Mackie concludes with a brief discussion of how people could come to believe in objective values, despite their non-existence.
-Mackie contrasts his position with both noncognitivism and naturalism. What are each of these positions, and how does Mackie's position differ from them?

Comprehend the laws surrounding employee leave, including vacation, sick leave, and specific FMLA conditions.

Discern the legal limits of employer actions regarding union avoidance and employee rights to organize.

Identify legal stipulations concerning workplace health and insurance benefits during employee leave.

Understand the protection provided by labor law to employee picketing and the different types of picketing protected under federal labor law.

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Definitions:

Interest Rate

The amount charged, expressed as a percentage of principal, by a lender to a borrower for the use of assets.

Bushels

A unit of volume that is used for measuring agricultural produce, such as grain, fruit, or vegetables.

Harvest

The process of gathering ripe crops from the fields.

Grain

The seeds of cereal crops such as wheat, rice, corn, which are used as food for humans and livestock.