Ethics, Metaphysics, Pragmatism, and Their Individual Value - Literature review Example

Ethics, Metaphysics, Pragmatism, and discuss their individual value Name: Lecturer’s name: Student No: Unit of study Code and Unit of study name: Assignment Number/Name: [WORDS 2089] 2. Describe Ethics, Metaphysics, Pragmatism, and discuss their individual value. Introduction Dubinsky1 viewed philosophy as a reflection and an inquiry. He further suggests that philosophy is the process of inquiring into an issue to gain an insight into questions regarding reason, truth, knowledge, meaning, value, and mind. Additionally, philosophy inquires into the human activities such as arts and literature. The several fields of philosophical inquiry include Epistemology, Realism, Aesthetics, Cosmology, Theology, Logic, Ethics, Metaphysics, and Pragmatism2 (Figure 1). It is argued that effective analysis of metaphysics can ultimately occur in pragmatism when metaphysics is linked to ethics. In brief, pragmatism leads to a connection between metaphysics and ethics. When an individual's metaphysical perspectives on subjectivity are taken through pragmatic assessment in regards to the pragmatic method, it will need to be based on ethical considerations. This essay describes three main branches of philosophy: ethics, metaphysics, pragmatism, and their individual value. Figure 1: Branches of philosophy3 Ethics Australian Guild of Music Education4 describes ethics as the study of theories regarding moral values, in addition to the concepts used for their identification and assertion. Ethics consists of superlatively significant critical reflection on the values by which humans live, as well as on which humans base their judgement about how they should live and related with others5. Ethics is therefore concerned with what should be regarded as the proper pr acceptable course of action for an individual. Putnam6 defines it as the study of right and wrong in people's tendencies. At a more fundamental level, ethics is the means through which values are categorised and pursued. The concept of ethics consists of protecting, systematising, and suggesting concepts of right and wrong human tendencies or behaviours. The field of ethics is subdivided into three key subject areas, such as applied ethics, normative ethics, and meta-ethics. Meta-ethics examines the origin of human's ethical principles and their meanings. Normative ethics is concerned with the ways of how to attain moral standards that delineate between right and wrong. It may involve promoting the good behaviours that humans should adopt when relating with others. Applied ethics comprises is concerned with the controversial matters in the society such as human rights, environmental conservations, and animal rights. In regards to values in ethics, morality comprises the actions, decisions and opinions that people express of what they regard as right or good. Hence, to think ethically, an individal would need to systematically reflect o what he thinks is right or good. Chippendale7 suggets two kinds of ethics: normative and descriptive. Descriptve ethics describe the existing motality and normative ethics value judgements of moralities8. The most vital components of normative ethics are valuesm norms and virtues. Moral avlues include the convictions or issue that are worth making an effort to attain, such as happiness and justice. at this rate, two types of moral values exist, namely instrinsic and instrumental value. Instrinsic value is a value in itself that is worth making an effort to attain, while instrumental values consists of values contributing to intrinsic value. For instance, when an individual looks to get money to help the needy, obtaining the money is an instrumental value while assiting the needy is an intrinsic value. On th other hand, moral norms consists of rules that indicate theactions permitted, required or forbidden. On the other hand, moral virtues consist of character traits that make an individual to be ragarded as a good individual, loyal, honest or courageous. Essentially therefore, ethic is a requirement in life. It is also a method of making decisions regarding courses of action. Without ethics, human actions would be random and without objectives9. Additionally, humans would lack ways in which to work towards attaining a goal since they lack a means to pick between the numbers of limitless goals. In spite of the fact that ethical standards may exist, humans may not be able to pursue goals with the likelihood of success. To the extent to which humans take rational ethical standards recognising their goals and actions to attain their most supreme values becomes possible10. When it comes to meta-ethics, two critical issues are significant: psychological issues and metaphysics. Metaphysics Metaphysics is a component of meta-ethics. Metaphysical issues involve the study of things existing in the universe, such as rocks, the moon, or the earth. It involves making a discovery on whether moral values are actually eternal truths or simply human believes. At this level, two general perspectives emerge: this-worldly and other-worldly. Scholars who support the other-worldly perspective maintain that moral values tend to be objective since they exist in a spirit-like sphere that surpasses human understanding or conventions11. Additionally, they argue that they are eternal or absolute in the sense that they do not change as well as that they are universal to the extent that they are applicable to all rational beings or creatures on earth at all times. A radical example of this perspective is Plato who found his inspiration in the field of mathematics. For instance, when mathematical relations and numbers like 2+2=4 are considered, they are definitely timeless concepts that are not changeable and are applicable universally and at all times. According to Plato, mathematics has an eternal character. It also has order, universality, quantity and number (See Figure 2). Additionally, it is an abstract entity existing in a form of spirit-like sphere. Within this perspective, Plato believed that moral values are spirit-like objects12. Figure 2: Character of mathematics according to Plato When it comes to the values of metaphysics, philosophers in the Medieval Age often categorised moral principles jointly under the title of ‘eternal law.’ An additional other-worldly approach to the metaphysics of morality includes the divine commands issued from God’s will. It is inspired by the idea that all-powerful God is in absolute control of every matter on the universe. Therefore, when God wills something, it becomes the reality. When God wills moral values, the values come into existence. Advocates of this perspective such as William of Ockham of the Medieval Age was of the view that God wills moral principles ‘like cheating is immoral,” which are His Commands. When it comes to this-worldly perspectives, the metaphysics of morality emerges through the disbelieving philosophical traditions. Examples include Sextus Empiricus, a Greek philosopher, who disproved the objectivism of moral values as existing in spirit-like objects. They argue that moral values are invented by humans. These values are called moral relativism, which exist in two forms: cultural and individual relativism. Individual relativism promotes the idea that individual humans create own moral standards. For instance, philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche held that a superhuman establish his own morality that is unique from the slave-like value system adopted by the masses13. On the other hand, cultural relativism holds that morality is anchored in approving a society an individual lives in, and is therefore not strictly based on what individual people prefer. Greek Philosopher Sextus Empiricus was a proponent of this perspective. Apart from embracing cynicism and relativism, the ‘this-worldly’ perspective to metaphysics of morality refutes the absoluteness and universality of morality and instead maintains that moral values between any two societies are different at any one time14. Pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that originated from the philosophical works of Charles Peirce, John Dewey, and William James in the United States in during the 17th century (See Figure 3). Pragmatism developed as a method of philosophizing in America following a rise of dissent against what philosophers of the time, such as Peirce, Dewey, and James felt to be redundant philosophical tradition in colleges in America and the insignificant metaphysical tradition that prevailed during the time15. Figure 3: William James, Charles Peirce, John Dewey Aboulafia16 defines pragmatism as a form of questioning of how to reconcile what science claims and what morality and religion claims on the other hand. It is a means of solving or assessing intellectual problems. It is also a theory on the kinds of knowledge that humans are capable of obtaining. Stecker17 suggests that pragmatism is significant as it provides a means of rising above dilemma, or a perspective of viewing issues such as morality, science and religion do not compete with each other. Based on this review, it is clear that pragmatism is a technique of philosophizing instead of merely a combination of doctrines. Additionally, pragmatism may be viewed as a means of settling metaphysical disputes that have the potential to be endless18. It is also a philosophical tradition that rejects the conception that the function of thought is essentially to reflect, represent, or describe reality. Rather, proponents of pragmatism perceive thought as being an outcome of an interaction between people and their environment. Hence, the value of thought is in functioning as a tool or instrument of action, predicting or problem-solving. Aboulafia19 views pragmatism as a variant of non-reductive naturalism whose subjectivity originates from nature as naturally developing from particular kinds of organisms as well as their interacting with their natural environment. He further explains that pragmatism needs to be interpreted dynamically or based on how it relates to the behaviours of actions. Hence, pragmatism is basically a philosophical anthropology rather than a philosophy of the mind. According to Aboulafia20, pragmatism perspectives the mind and subjective in the non-ontological and non-metaphysical terms. Some philosophers such as Pihlstrom21 tend to see pragmatism as rather an informal variant of logical empiricism because of the similarity of the verification theory of meaning and the pragmatic method. They also view it as a modern means of appraising any type of systematic philosophy such as metaphysics. Pihlstrom22 defines pragmatism as a philosophical orientation that is at the centre of controversy between anti-metaphysics and metaphysics. Within the perspective of traditional that construe pragmatism as being non-metaphysical, the term pragmatism is viewed as an antecedent of the logical positivist ‘verificationist theory’ of meaning as well as something such as the radical anti-metaphysical. Therefore in pragmatism, little room is left for metaphysics. In respect to individual value of pragmatism, it could be reasoned that pragmatist understand that human beings are inside nature instead viewing nature from the outside. Additionally, they share the perspective that human beings tend to interact with nature and that an individual's intelligence is social. This conception leads to the developing of a value theory and moral philosophy, as Dewey explains. Indeed, Dewey differentiated between evaluating and valuing. In his view, the way humans value something depends on how they act towards that thing, hold to it, take care of it, shun it, preserve it, or seek to get rid of it23. In music, the basis of such valuation may consist of an immediate reaction of aesthetic appeal, sadness, or fear or essentially as an outcome of evaluation. Since humans interact with the environment, they develop particular habits that grow into customary morality of the society. On a different level, humans habitually observe riles of such morality and tend to develop particular attitudes and to instil certain ways of acting and feelings in their offspring. Dewey and James stressed the value of habit in the smooth functioning of human interactions and stability of their communities24. James proposed that before determining the value of any philosophical claim, it is necessary to verify its cash-value, its function, and the difference it would make. As argued by the Pragmatic Theory, the value of intellectual ability and philosophizing its significance in resolving the complexities that emerge in the process of human’s attempt to address the experience. For instance, the cash-value of an individual’s ideas is found in how he puts his ideas. In which case, if a theory lacks cash-value, then it would not make any difference whether it is true or false. Conclusion Effective analysis of metaphysics can ultimately occur in pragmatism when metaphysics is linked to ethics. Hence, pragmatism leads to a connection of metaphysics to ethics. When an individual's metaphysical perspectives on subjectivity are taken through pragmatic assessment in regards to the pragmatic method, it will need to be based on ethical considerations. Ethics is concerned with the study of theories regarding moral values, as well as the concepts used for their identification and assertion. It consists of superlatively significant critical reflection on the values by which humans live, as well as on which humans base their judgement about how they should live and related with others. Metaphysics involves making a discovery on whether moral values are actually eternal truths or simply human believes. Pragmatism is a form of questioning of how to reconcile what science claims and what morality and religion claims on the other hand. It is significant as it provides a means of rising above dilemma, or a perspective of viewing issues such as morality, science and religion do not compete with each other. Bibliography Aboulafia, M 2009, Contemporary Pragmatism, Rodopi, New York Australian Guild of Music Education 2003, Australian Guild of Music Education: Philosophy and Common Sense, Australian Guild Conservatorium, Kooyong Chippendale, P 2001, On Values, Ethics, Morals & Principles, viewed 27 Jan 2015, Dubinsky, J 2008, Ethics and Reputational Risk Assessment: The Global Fund, Rosentreter Group,Kensington IEP 2014, “Ethics" Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, viewed 28 Jan 2015, Pihlström, S 2009, Pragmatist Metaphysics: An Essay on the Ethical Grounds of Ontology, A&C Black, New York Putnam, R 2014, "Pragmatism, Ethics and Education," Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory, viewed 27 Jan 2015, Stanford.edu 2008, Pragmatism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, viewed 28 Jan 2015, Read More