How Do Epistemological Beliefs Affect One's Ethical Views?
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- Date Submitted: 04/03/2011 07:05 PM
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How do epistemological beliefs affect one’s ethical views?
If you are an empiricist then you only believe something is true/real if it can be sensed through the five senses. “If you cannot sense it, you cannot know it.” Therefore, an empiricist would say that morals do not exist because they cannot be sensed. If abortion or gay marriage is wrong, can you sense the wrongness? No. Empiricist would argue that God does not exist.
A rationalist would claim that the senses are not necessary to acquire knowledge. You can have reason alone to have knowledge. You can use your reasoning if you’re a rationalist to determine whether an ethical issue is immoral/moral. A rationalist can look at an action in a photograph and determine through reasoning is it is good/evil or right/wrong.
How do metaphysical beliefs affect one’s ethical views?
Realism is a metaphysical claim that the world is made up as parts and wholes. If you are a realist then you believe in physical and non physical things. This would affect your ethical views because you would believe in good and bad. According to a Natural law point of view, wrong isn’t necessarily written down.
Naturalism is the view that everything exists is nothing more than physical parts and wholes. A naturalist does not believe that non physical things exist. If you were a naturalist goodness/wrongness isn’t physical and it is just something a physical thing does. They would say that God does not exist and if there is no God than there are no rights. This can affect one’s ethical views because they wouldn’t believe in rights and morals.
If you are an empiricist then you only believe something is true/real if it can be sensed through the five senses. “If you cannot sense it, you cannot know it.” Therefore, an empiricist would say that morals do not exist because they cannot be sensed. If abortion or gay marriage is wrong, can you sense the wrongness? No. Empiricist would argue that God does not exist.
A rationalist would claim that the senses are not necessary to acquire knowledge. You can have reason alone to have knowledge. You can use your reasoning if you’re a rationalist to determine whether an ethical issue is immoral/moral. A rationalist can look at an action in a photograph and determine through reasoning is it is good/evil or right/wrong.
How do metaphysical beliefs affect one’s ethical views?
Realism is a metaphysical claim that the world is made up as parts and wholes. If you are a realist then you believe in physical and non physical things. This would affect your ethical views because you would believe in good and bad. According to a Natural law point of view, wrong isn’t necessarily written down.
Naturalism is the view that everything exists is nothing more than physical parts and wholes. A naturalist does not believe that non physical things exist. If you were a naturalist goodness/wrongness isn’t physical and it is just something a physical thing does. They would say that God does not exist and if there is no God than there are no rights. This can affect one’s ethical views because they wouldn’t believe in rights and morals.