Ethical naturalism is the general view that an ethical statement expresses a cognitive content which tracks (a) natural property(ies). Ethical naturalism has been a discredited philosophical position in the English-speaking philosophical world since the beginning of the twentieth century, when Moore objected to it with his famous open question argument. The former, noncognitivists, took ethical statements to be expressions of emotions or subjective perspectives, the latter, intuitionists, took moral properties to be nonnatural objects of a sui generis human intuition. Philippa Foot's ethical naturalism is a very interesting case, since her very well-known and widely read book Natural Goodness has often been read as grounding the virtues on a biological notion of human nature and human flourishing. The position of Foot in the debate on ethical naturalism remained unchanged from early stages of her scientific career, throughout her entire philosophical life.
