Meta-Ethics

The study of meta-ethics refers to the nature of ethical terms and concepts and to the attempt to understand the underlying assumptions behind moral theories; therefore, it is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties, statements, attitudes, and judgments. It covers a broad range of questions surrounding how we know what moral truth is (and even if moral truth exists), and how we learn about moral facts. Meta-ethical questions are, by their very nature, abstract. It might seem that they do not necessarily bear much relation to the task of developing practical, decision-making tools. However, some of the issues are very important and relevant to that task and meta-ethics receives some attention here.
If we begin to consider whether or not one should be a just person, for example, then we are very quickly faced with questions about the nature of justice and about what being a ‘just’ person means. Is justice a human invention? Can we accept that ideas of justice can be different in different societies? Or is the notion of justice an eternal, unchanging concept that should be upheld by everyone, everywhere, and throughout all time? This is not merely an abstract, academic question. The question of whether or not one culture’s notion of justice can and should be imposed upon another has historically been – and continues to be – a cause of profound conflict between people.