God and Morality

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the arguments for and against the notion that without God there can be no morality. Arguments include the humanist angle from the philosopher Peter Singer and also individualist notions from Kant. The views of other philosophers such as Plato, Keirkegaard and Dostoevskii are also examined as well as religious textual examples.

From the Paper:

"If an act is to be considered good merely because God decided it was so, then ethics are completely arbitrary. God easily could have decided that the horrific and monstrous acts such as paedophilia and rape were virtuous, and ergo, by definition they would be 'good' acts. However, I believe that "God is not...an instrumental means for acquiring independent goods" . Instead of basing morality on the fallible nature of theistic belief, why not base morality on observed consequences. Start, instead from the position that many people hold, that "a wrong act is one that manifestly harms others or their interests, or violates their rights or causes injustice" This view provides the underlying thinking behind and is prevalent within, all major human rights legislation, with the notion of God and morality, never being mentioned. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• George B. Connell and C. Stephen Evans, Foundations of Kierkegaard's Vision of Community, Religion, Ethics and Politics, Humanities Press International Inc, 1992
• David J. Gouwens, Kierkegaard as a religious thinker, Cambridge University Press, 1996
• William J. Wainwright, Religion and Morality, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2005
• Burton F. Porter, Deity and Morality with regard to Naturalistic Fallacy, George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1968
• Richard Holloway, Godless Morality, Keeping Religion out of Ethics, Cannongate Books Ltd, 1999

More papers on God and Morality:

• Book Review # 127747 : "Cahn's "God and Morality"
• Essay # 57593 : "Ethics and Morality"
• Essay # 143582 : "On Nietzsche, The Death Of God And “Do-What-You-Please”"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: