← Knowledge & Inquiry syllabus

SingaporeKnowledge & Inquiry

Ethics, Values and Knowledge

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Can we have knowledge in ethics, or are moral judgements something other than candidates for truth and knowledge?

Assess whether there can be moral knowledge, contrasting cognitivism and non-cognitivism and weighing intuition, reasoning and disagreement as routes to or against it
A focused answer on the possibility of moral knowledge. Cognitivism versus non-cognitivism, whether moral claims can be true, the routes of intuition and reasoning, and what persistent moral disagreement implies for moral knowledge.
11 min answer →

Are there objective moral facts that exist independently of what anyone thinks, or is morality our invention?

Contrast moral realism with anti-realist positions including error theory, emotivism and constructivism, and assess the arguments from queerness and moral experience
A focused answer on the metaethics of moral facts. Moral realism, error theory and the argument from queerness, emotivism and expressivism, constructivism, and the argument from moral experience, with a measured verdict.
11 min answer →

Is moral truth relative to cultures or individuals, and does the diversity of moral codes support relativism?

Distinguish descriptive, normative and metaethical relativism and assess the argument from cultural diversity and the objections to relativism
A focused answer on moral relativism. The difference between descriptive, normative and metaethical relativism, the argument from cultural diversity, the standard objections (the reformer, tolerance, and self-refutation), and a measured verdict.
11 min answer →

How can we reason about values and resolve moral disagreement if values cannot be derived from facts alone?

Explain how moral reasoning proceeds through principles, consequences and cases, and assess methods such as reflective equilibrium and thought experiments for resolving moral disagreement
A focused answer on moral reasoning and method. The main normative frameworks (consequentialist, deontological, virtue), the role of principles, consequences and cases, reflective equilibrium and thought experiments, and how moral disagreement can be rationally narrowed.
11 min answer →

Is there a sharp line between facts and values, and can an ought ever be derived from an is?

Explain the fact-value distinction and Hume's is-ought gap, and assess the naturalistic fallacy and challenges to a sharp separation
A focused answer on the fact-value distinction. Hume's is-ought gap, Moore's naturalistic fallacy and open-question argument, the difference between descriptive and prescriptive claims, and challenges from thick concepts to a sharp separation.
11 min answer →