Does all of philosophy boil down to metaethics?

In metaethics, we must make a choice. This choice is not just about morality or ethics: once you choose one of the metaethical positions you subscribe to, your whole philosophy, your whole worldview is defined by it. <br><br>If you are a noncognitivist (or expressivist), you think that ethics are not rational. You think that morality is a reflection of people's emotions, that there is no such thing as moral truth, that reason can't be the basis for ethics and that you can't logically derive an ought from an is. And your whole philosophy will be defined by this. If reason can't be the basis for ethics, that means that your worldview must be based on something other than reason. It means that ethics, no matter how much you rationalise it, is ultimately based on emotions: there is no such thing as moral truth because emotions don't constitute truth. And this is a big deal. It means that a good life isn't one in which you seek moral truth and practice it. You don't even believe in this sort of thing. What you believe in is something like virtue ethics. But virtue ethics is also defined by your choice. If ethics aren't rational, then virtues also aren't rational. Virtues are things people have strong positive emotional reactions towards, for no reason. Virtues are things that have no logical or rational basis: they're things we arbitrarily decide are good. So that's one choice.<br><br>On the other hand we have cognitivism, which is the metaethical position that ethics are rational. Into cognitivism there are many paths to take. But all of them lead to the conclusion that ethics is based on reason. It means that if you're a cognitivist, your whole philosophy and worldview must be based on reason. It means that you believe ethics to be based on moral truths that you can deduce from the world with your reason. This means that your life is about seeking out moral truth, practising it and living a rational life. You believe in rational virtues, in a rational meaning of life, in rational ways to live a good life. But there are different ways that your ethics can be rational. One way is to be a realist, which means that ethics is based on the world. There's a real, objective moral truth that you can learn through reason. And there are different ways that it can be real. It could be a moral realism in which moral truths are a product of human culture. In this case, your whole philosophy will be about understanding the way humans and societies function and the way our morals are shaped by this. Or it could be a moral realism in which moral truths are a product of nature, and in that case your whole philosophy will be about understanding the way nature functions and the way our morals fit into natural law.<br><br>Or ethics could be nonrealist, in which case all moral truths are deduced a priori: that is, they come from reason alone. In this case, your philosophy will be about understanding reason itself, and understanding the truth that reason leads us to. There are many different ways that this can play out too. It could be a consequentialism in which all moral truths are deduced from the basic principle to seek the greatest good for the greatest number. Or it could be a deontology, which is when you deduce all moral truths from basic principles like the principle of non-contradiction.<br><br>There are many different ways in which ethics can be deduced from reason, and there are many different ways in which ethics can be based on the world. But there are only two basic options: either ethics is rational or it isn't. Either ethics is based on reason or it isn't. But no matter which option you choose, your whole philosophy will be about the choice you made. Whether you choose to make your worldview rational or not, the choice that you make sets the way you live your life, the choices you make, the way you look at the world. It sets up how you think about questions like free will or identity. It sets up how you think about practical things like science, economics and politics. No matter how deep you go, no matter how much you branch out, the tree of philosophy will always stem back to metaethics. That's why it's such an important area of philosophy: it's not just about morals, it's about the whole of existence.<br><br>**Edit**: Made a typo in the title. If anyone knows how to change it please let me know.