What does "metaethics" mean?
The study of the nature and meaning of moral judgments, and the foundations and the possibility of ethical reasoning as such.
Metaethics
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The study of the nature and meaning of moral judgments, and the foundations and the possibility of ethical reasoning as such.
- Grammar: metaethics is listed as noun.
- Usage evidence: However, he holds that ethics is not capable of proving cruelty—or happiness, for that matter—to be either good or bad. This view of the limitations of the reasoning of normative ethics belongs to metaethics.
How to use "metaethics"
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Source and review context
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 The study of the nature and meaning of moral judgments, and the foundations and the possibility of ethical reasoning as such. uncountable
"However, he holds that ethics is not capable of proving cruelty—or happiness, for that matter—to be either good or bad. This view of the limitations of the reasoning of normative ethics belongs to metaethics."
Example
"However, he holds that ethics is not capable of proving cruelty—or happiness, for that matter—to be either good or bad. This view of the limitations of the reasoning of normative ethics belongs to metaethics."
Common questions
How do you use "metaethics" in a sentence?
However, he holds that ethics is not capable of proving cruelty—or happiness, for that matter—to be either good or bad. This view of the limitations of the reasoning of normative ethics belongs to metaethics.
Etymology
From meta- + ethics. First attested in the 1930s.