Metaethik

English summary: People express opinions about which actions are right or wrong. Some may say that assisted suicide is right, while others say it is wrong. But what are people doing when they make moral statements? Are they asserting something? Or, on the contrary, are they only expressing emotions and wishes? There are also further questions that depend on the answer to that one: whether there is truth in morality; whether it already exists in the world and is only encountered by us,...
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English summary: People express opinions about which actions are right or wrong. Some may say that assisted suicide is right, while others say it is wrong. But what are people doing when they make moral statements? Are they asserting something? Or, on the contrary, are they only expressing emotions and wishes? There are also further questions that depend on the answer to that one: whether there is truth in morality; whether it already exists in the world and is only encountered by us, or whether we instead invent it; whether there are moral facts, and how we can recognize those facts. This introduction to metaethics explores the nature of morality. It illuminates morality from the points of view of philosophy of language, metaphysics, and epistemology. The book thus provides an overview of the various theories of metaethics. At the same time, it argues for a robust moral realism. German description: Menschen aussern sich daruber, welche Handlungen richtig und falsch sind. Manche sagen, Beihilfe zum Suizid sei richtig, andere sagen, sie sei falsch. Aber was tun Menschen, wenn sie sich moralisch aussern? Behaupten sie etwas? Oder drucken sie vielmehr Emotionen und Wunsche aus? Von der Beantwortung dieser Frage hangen weitere Fragen ab: ob es in der Moral Wahrheit gibt, ob sie von uns vorgefunden oder vielmehr erfunden wird, ob es moralische Fakten gibt und wie wir diese Fakten erkennen konnen. Diese Einfuhrung in die Metaethik untersucht das Wesen der Moral. Sie beleuchtet Moral aus sprachphilosophischer, metaphysischer und erkenntnistheoretischer Perspektive. So liefert dieses Buch einen Uberblick uber die verschiedenen metaethischen Theorien. Gleichzeitig argumentiert es fur einen robusten moralischen Realismus.