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Provide an overview of popular ethical frameworks and identify meta-ethical theories that assert only some actions are permissible? My familiarity with ethics is limited to a few SEP (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) articles, and I'm not directly inquiring about 'truth' or 'objectivity.' Specifically, I'm interested in understanding which philosophers advocate the perspective that only certain actions are allowed. In light of any responses, I'm curious to know if there are philosophers who assert that everyone is correct about what is permitted, and which meta-ethical theories accommodate both perspectives. I speculate that certain forms of relativism might allow for such inclusivity, but I'm uncertain.

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Final answer:

Metaethics explores foundational questions about moral values and includes theories like moral relativism and pluralism. Moral relativism asserts that different individuals, communities, and cultures determine what is morally right or wrong. Pluralism acknowledges the existence of multiple valid moral frameworks and recognizes that they may be incomparable or incommensurable.

Step-by-step explanation:

Metaethics is a branch of ethics that focuses on moral reasoning and foundational questions about moral values. It explores the assumptions and beliefs related to morality and examines issues such as the origin of moral values, the nature of moral judgments, and the existence of objective moral facts.

One meta-ethical theory that asserts that only some actions are permissible is moral relativism. According to moral relativism, different individuals, communities, and cultures can determine what is morally right or wrong, and there is no universal standard of morality.

A related concept is moral pluralism, which acknowledges that there can be multiple valid moral frameworks. However, moral pluralism does not necessarily claim that all moral frameworks are equally valid, as moral relativism does. Instead, it recognizes that different moral frameworks may be incomparable or incommensurable, meaning they cannot be measured against each other using a common standard.

In terms of meta-ethical theories that accommodate both the perspective that only certain actions are allowed and the idea that everyone is correct about what is permitted, certain forms of relativism, such as cultural relativism, may provide a framework for inclusivity.

Cultural relativism maintains that what is morally right or wrong is determined by the cultural norms and values of a particular society. This perspective allows for different moral perspectives to coexist without necessarily asserting their equivalence.

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