G. E. Moore & the Naturalistic Reaction

G. E. Moore & the Naturalistic Reaction - Alan Donagan (1963)

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Alan Donagan discusses G. E. Moore's ethical non-naturalism and the reaction against it. This was the second talk given by Alan Donagan in a series on contemporary ethics at DePauw University in 1963.
#philosophy #ethics

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@srbrunoga Ай бұрын

Do you have the other lecture? G.E. Moore is great!

@alwaysgreatusa223 23 күн бұрын

In order to define something as being identical with 'good', or to even predicate or describe a thing as being 'good', you first have to determine that is actually good. You obviously can't do this without begging the question if your criterion for judging it to be good (or the good) is the thing itself. For example, philosophers have naturally judged wisdom to be the highest good (or the Good itself). But they can't really justify this assertion without admitting that it not entirely obvious that it is good -- otherwise there would not exist any need to actually justify the assertion in the first place, since everyone would immediately acknowledge it as being good. But while most people agree that wisdom is good, not everyone would agree that it the highest good, and a few would even argue for the virtue of ignorance instead -- as in 'ignorance is bliss.'. Many Christians, for example, believe that faith and love of God are more important than is wisdom, and some go so far as to praise the innocent belief found in children as compared to the discerning 'wisdom' of adults, arguing that a true believer should be more like an innocent child than a 'wise' adult.. The story of Adam and Eve seems to go in this direction, as against any 'knowledge' beyond what God commands (as does, to a lesser extent perhaps, the Story of Job.). If only Adam and Eve had obeyed God instead of listening to the 'wise' serpent, then we might still be living innocent and immortal lives in paradise. Rousseau also goes in this direction in his 'Discourse on the Arts and Sciences'. Even Socrates, the heroic figure of ancient philosophy and Rationalism, made it clear that only God is wise, and that our human 'wisdom' is worth little or nothing. Of course, this whole debate swirls around what it is truly wise to know, believe, and do in life. But this again just shows that we cannot simply say wisdom is good, since we don't even know what it is to be truly wise in the first place, anymore than we know what it is to be good -- unless, of course, Moore is right, and the Good is something that stands on its own -- not identical with any one thing, such as wisdom, strength, power, faith, love, kindness, happiness, pleasure, etc.