Morality Autonomy And God

Author : Keith Ward
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2013-11-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781780743189

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Morality, Autonomy, and God by Keith Ward Pdf

Can morality exist separately from a belief in God? From Descartes to Dostoevsky, the debate concerning the relationship between religion and morality has raged for centuries. Can there be a solid foundation for ethics without God? Or would we be consigned to a relativist morality, where "the good" is just a product of societal values or natural selection? In this landmark work, acclaimed philosopher and theologian, Keith Ward, presents a revolutionary new contribution to this discussion. Reflecting on the work of philosophers old and new - including Hume, Mill, Murdoch and Moore - he argues that our conception of morality intrinsically depends on our model of reality. And if we want a meaningful, objective ethics, then only God can provide the solid metaphysical foundations.Carefully structured and written in Ward's famously clear prose, Morality, Autonomy and God will be an invaluable primer for students of theology or philosophy of religion. But more than that, this strident and controversial book is guaranteed to shape philosophical opinion for years to come.

Author : J. E. Hare
Publisher : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Page : 133 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780802849977

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God's Call by J. E. Hare Pdf

There has been a debate between modern ethicists who see moral judgments as objectively corresponding to a moral reality independent of human opinion and those who insist that moral judgments are essentially expressions of our will. In this excellent philosophical work John Hare outlines a theory that combines the merits of both views, arguing that what makes something right is that God calls us to it. In the first chapter Hare gives a selective history of the sustained debate within Anglo-American philosophy over the last century between moral realists and moral expressivists. Best understood as a disagreement about how objectivity and subjectivity are related in value judgment, this debate is of particular interest to Christians, who necessarily feel pulled in both directions. Christians want to say that value is created by God and exists whether we recognize it or not, but they also want to say that when we value something, our hearts' fundamental commitments are also involved. Hare suggests "prescriptive realism" as a way to bring both perspectives together. The second chapter examines the divine command theory of John Duns Scotus, looking particularly at the relationship that Scotus established between God's commands, human nature, and human will. Hare shows that a Calvinist version of the divine command theory of obligation can be defended via Scotus against natural law theory as well as against contemporary challenges. A significant theme treated here is the view that the Fall disordered our natural inclinations, rendering them useless as an authoritative source of guidance for right living. In the last chapter Hare moves to the key philosophical juncture between the medieval period and our own time -- the moral theory of Immanuel Kant in the late eighteenth century. Modern moral philosophy has largely taken Kant's work as a refutation of divine command theory and a refocusing of the discussion on human autonomy. Hare shows that Kant was in fact not arguing against the kind of divine command theory that Hare supports. He discusses what Kant meant by saying that we should recognize our duties as God's commands, and he defends a notion of human autonomy as appropriation. Featuring original moral theory and fresh interpretations of the thought of Duns Scotus and Kant, God's Call is valuable both for its overview of the history of moral debate and for its construction of a sound Christian ethic for today.

Author : Daniel Statman,Avi Sagi
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 199 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2022-06-08
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789004463868

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Religion and Morality by Daniel Statman,Avi Sagi Pdf

Religion and Morality seeks to answer two fundamental questions regarding the relation between religion and morality. The first is the puzzle posed by Socrates, the so-called 'Euthyphro dilemma', which asks: is morality valuable by virtue of its intrinsic importance and worth, or is morality valuable because, and only because, God approves it and commands us to follow its dictates? The second question is raised by Kierkegaard in Fear and Trembling. He asks: Is a conflict between religion and morality possible? Does God ever demand that we neglect our moral commitments? The discussion on these questions is divided into three parts. In the first two parts, we discuss the idea that morality depends on religion. The authors distinguish two types of dependence: strong dependence, according to which the very existence, or validity, of moral obligations depends on God's command, and weak dependence, according to which though morality itself is independent of God, God (or belief in God) is necessary to enable human beings to know their moral duties and to carry them out. The authors reject the strong dependence thesis, as well as most versions of the weak dependence. The third part of the book discusses different versions of the view that religion might conflict with morality. The authors reject this view, and show that very few religious thinkers would follow it all the way through to its ultimate consequences. The book has implications for the philosophy of religion, in its emphasis on the centrality of the moral element in religion, and for moral philosophy, in its highlighting, among other things, of the nature of moral judgments.

Author : Stefano Bacin,Oliver Sensen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 239 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2018-10-25
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781107182851

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The Emergence of Autonomy in Kant's Moral Philosophy by Stefano Bacin,Oliver Sensen Pdf

A thorough study of why Kant developed the concept of autonomy, one of his central legacies for contemporary moral thought.

Author : Jos Kole
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Christian ethics
ISBN : IND:30000087815175

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Moral Autonomy and Christian Faith by Jos Kole Pdf

Author : C. Stephen Evans
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2013-02-28
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199696680

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God and Moral Obligation by C. Stephen Evans Pdf

C. Stephen Evans defends the claim that moral obligations are best understood as divine commands or requirements; hence an important part of morality depends on God. God's requirements are communicated in a variety of ways, including conscience, and that natural law ethics and virtue ethics provide complementary perspectives to this view.

Author : Jerome B. Schneewind
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 652 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 052147938X

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The Invention of Autonomy by Jerome B. Schneewind Pdf

This remarkable book is the most comprehensive study ever written of the history of moral philosophy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its aim is to set Kant's still influential ethics in its historical context by showing in detail what the central questions in moral philosophy were for him and how he arrived at his own distinctive ethical views. The book is organised into four main sections, each exploring moral philosophy by discussing the work of many influential philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In an epilogue the author discusses Kant's view of his own historicity, and of the aims of moral philosophy. In its range, in its analyses of many philosophers not discussed elsewhere, and in revealing the subtle interweaving of religious and political thought with moral philosophy, this is an unprecedented account of the evolution of Kant's ethics.

Author : Robert Stern
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 293 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2011-12-15
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781139505017

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Understanding Moral Obligation by Robert Stern Pdf

In many histories of modern ethics, Kant is supposed to have ushered in an anti-realist or constructivist turn by holding that unless we ourselves 'author' or lay down moral norms and values for ourselves, our autonomy as agents will be threatened. In this book, Robert Stern challenges the cogency of this 'argument from autonomy', and claims that Kant never subscribed to it. Rather, it is not value realism but the apparent obligatoriness of morality that really poses a challenge to our autonomy: how can this be accounted for without taking away our freedom? The debate the book focuses on therefore concerns whether this obligatoriness should be located in ourselves (Kant), in others (Hegel) or in God (Kierkegaard). Stern traces the historical dialectic that drove the development of these respective theories, and clearly and sympathetically considers their merits and disadvantages; he concludes by arguing that the choice between them remains open.

Author : Bernard James Walker
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 346 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2014-11-06
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781498227810

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Ethics and the Autonomy of Philosophy by Bernard James Walker Pdf

In Ethics and the Autonomy of Philosophy, Bernard Walker sets out with two objectives. First, Walker argues that ethics is autonomous as a discipline. Oftentimes ethics books, from a Christian perspective, lean toward grounding ethics in theology or in biblical proof texting. Walker departs from this tradition. Ethics grounded in theology entails a limited scope for those doing ethics in that the Christian God must be assumed for both Christian and non-Christian when at the table of ethical dialogue. For the non-Christian, this loads the dice and shuts down ethical consensus and dialogue, if not ethical truth. With that said, this book does not depart from Christian ethical views on such issues as the sanctity of life, antiracism, the death penalty, the objectivity of ethics, and the importance of integrating faith into ethics; however, Walker does so from a common denominator of philosophy rather than theology. Second, Walker ventures into the streets and engages the man/woman on the streets approach to ethics and ethical decision-making. He points out the shortcomings of the ubiquitous views of the man/woman on the streets, viz., cultural relativism, skepticism, and the attitude that ethics is merely a matter of personal choice.

Author : Kenneth Seeskin
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2001-09-06
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781139430432

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Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy by Kenneth Seeskin Pdf

Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy examines an important theme in Jewish thought from the Book of Genesis to the present day. Although it is customary to view Judaism as a legalistic faith leaving little room for free thought or individual expression, Kenneth Seeskin argues that this view is wrong. Where some see the essence of the religion as strict obedience to divine commands, Seeskin claims that God does not just command but forms a partnership with humans requiring the consent of both parties. Looking at classic texts from Biblical, Rabbinic, and philosophical literature, Seeskin shows that Judaism has always respected freedom of conscience and assigned an important role to the power of human reason. The book considers both existing arguments and presents its own ideas about the role of autonomy in Judaism. Clear and concise, it offers a refreshing alternative to the mysticism and dogmatism prevalent in much of the literature.

Author : Emmanuel Lévinas
Publisher : Stanford University Press
Page : 236 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0804730946

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Of God Who Comes to Mind by Emmanuel Lévinas Pdf

The thirteen essays collected in this volume investigate the possibility that the word "God" can be understood now, at the end of the twentieth century, in a meaningful way. Nine of the essays appear in English translation for the first time. Among Levinas's writings, this volume distinguishes itself, both for students of his thought and for a wider audience, by the range of issues it addresses. Levinas not only rehearses the ethical themes that have led him to be regarded as one of the most original thinkers working out of the phenomenological tradition, but he also takes up philosophical questions concerning politics, language, and religion. The volume situates his thought in a broader intellectual context than have his previous works. In these essays, alongside the detailed investigations of Husserl, Heidegger, Rosenzweig, and Buber that characterize all his writings, Levinas also addresses the thought of Kierkegaard, Marx, Bloch, and Derrida. Some essays provide lucid expositions not available elsewhere to key areas of Levinas's thought. "God and Philosophy" is perhaps the single most important text for understanding Levinas and is in many respects the best introduction to his works. "From Consciousness to Wakefulness" illuminates Levinas's relation to Husserl and thus to phenomenology, which is always his starting point, even if he never abides by the limits it imposes. In "The Thinking of Being and the Question of the Other," Levinas not only addresses Derrida's Speech and Phenomenon but also develops an answer to the later Heidegger's account of the history of Being by suggesting another way of reading that history. Among the other topics examined in the essays are the Marxist concept of ideology, death, hermeneutics, the concept of evil, the philosophy of dialogue, the relation of language to the Other, and the acts of communication and mutual understanding.

Author : Oliver Sensen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 315 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : History
ISBN : 9781107004863

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Kant on Moral Autonomy by Oliver Sensen Pdf

This book explores the central importance Kant's concept of autonomy for contemporary moral thought and modern philosophy.

Author : Ferd Wagner
Publisher : AuthorHouse
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2022-06-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781665559096

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Politically Correct Moral Autonomy: Christianity Besieged! Stirring the Melting Pot to a Boil by Ferd Wagner Pdf

On what basis should we accept or reject political or social philosophies that insist human nature, human wisdom and human cooperation have the potential to resolve our issues and problems if we buy into the morality espoused by liberal politics and liberal resolutions? Should we side with progressives who see most people as good, free to self-determine their own standards and will do the right thing if given the opportunity? Or with the right political and social contracts proposed by the “correct” party who see the morality of the liberal government as our correct way of achieving peace and prosperity? Should Christians have a place at the table? The challenge here and in all such debates is what constitutes acceptable moral standards and practices that accurately represent the will of the majority without denying the legal, social and moral rights of the minority? Then the question becomes how to correctly implement those standards. Here, each side should be challenged to present evidence and facts that either refute or prove the posited solutions or reforms can be validated by an acceptable objective authority or unbiased source. At this point, the debate demands proof or corroboration that the authorities being identified are trustworthy and beyond reproof. Is the authority a person, institution, document or charismatic leader and speaker? What evidence or past experiences corroborate their integrity and wisdom in dealing with the issue at hand? If you combine or spread the authority from the four different entities listed above, are you more likely to get subjective solutions based on human nature and human experience or divine solutions based on Christian theology and practice? One standard will insist that merit, integrity, honor and personal accountability is the better way to create more ethical and harmonious relationships while the other looks more towards fairness, inclusion and equality as the keys to harmony and prosperity. Here is where the rubber hits the road. Can any human, political party or institution claim superiority over all other authorities? If so, which one? In our system of government, a president and in most situations, his political party rules the roost for four years. Often, they dramatically change the moral and ethical atmosphere, refuting the direction of the preceding administration. Our checks and balances are primarily politically manipulated by the party in power and frequently are more rigged than balanced. Should our system be predicated on scriptural truth whose default is ethical accountability across the board or continue down the path where what is politically pragmatic and pluralistic enough to maintain control and power is the default? Political correctness cannot please all the people all the time. Nothing can. Which groups then should get priority; the ethical, accountable, sacrificial individuals and organizations, or the self-serving, you owe me, I deserve it groups who feel entitled to special privileges or rights? Meritocracy or hypocrisy? God’s ethics or man’s identity politics’ morality?

Author : Jeffrey Stout
Publisher : Notre Dame : University of Notre Dame Press
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 1981
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : UOM:39015002747072

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The Flight from Authority by Jeffrey Stout Pdf

Jeffrey Stout argues that modern thought was born in a crisis of authority, took shape in flight from authority, and aspired to autonomy from all traditional influence. The quest for autonomy was an attempt to begin completely anew. As such it was bound to fail. Stout traces the secularization of public discourse and its effect on the relation between theism and culture as well as the severance of morality from traditional moorings in favor of autonomy. He is unabashedly historical in his approach, defending the thesis that all thought is historically conditioned and that historical insight is essential to self-understanding. Each section of the book takes up a major problem in contemporary philosophy - the nature of knowledge, the rationality of religious belief, the autonomy of morality- and sets that problem against the background of early modern disputes over authority. The result is simultaneously a critique of ahistorical biases, a survey of major developments in modern thought, and a normative treatment of the problems addressed. The book culminates in the final section with an account of post-Kantian concern with the autonomy of morals. Morality attained relative independence as a form of discourse only in the modern period, but the nature of this independence is distorted when construed in foundationalist or Kantian terms. After criticizing methodological assumptions in recent moral philosophy and religious ethics, Stout sketches his own account of the emergence of autonomy for morality, stressing the need for substantial rethinking of the relationship between religion and ethics. In a concluding chapter, he places his own position in relation to the philosophical tradition descendant from Hegel.

Author : Frank G. Kirkpatrick
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 334 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2017-11-22
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781351774420

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A Moral Ontology for a Theistic Ethic by Frank G. Kirkpatrick Pdf

This title was first published in 2003. This book develops a moral ontology for a theistic ethic that engages the work of contemporary moral and political philosophers, and reaffirms the relevance of a theistic tradition of God's relation to the world reflected in the fundamental teachings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Drawing on recent thought in the non-religious fields of psychology and political and moral philosophy, which build around the concept of human flourishing in community, Kirkpatrick argues that a theistic ethic need not be the captive of parochial or sectarian theological camps. He proposes a common or universal ethic that transcends the fashionable ethnocentric 'incommensurate differences' in morality alleged by many post-modern deconstructionists. In the wake of ethnic religious strife post September 11th 2001, this book argues for a common morality built on the inclusivity of love, community, and justice that can transcend sectarian and parochial boundaries.