Morality, Autonomy, and God
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.
1114979912
Morality, Autonomy, and God
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.
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Morality, Autonomy, and God

Morality, Autonomy, and God

by Keith Ward
Morality, Autonomy, and God

Morality, Autonomy, and God

by Keith Ward

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Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781780743172
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Publication date: 11/01/2013
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Keith Ward is a Fellow of the British Academy, and Professorial Research Fellow at Heythrop College, London. He was formerly Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, and is one of Britain's foremost writers on comparative theology and Christian issues.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Part I From Naturalism to Theism

1 Being a Moral Agent 3

Some senses of moral autonomy 3

The Ionian enchantment 6

The Platonic alternative 9

Just discernment and evaluative commitment 13

2 Reason and Sentiment: A Phantom Battle? 18

Reason and desire 18

The rationalist case 20

Hume on virtue 22

Doing the reasonable thing 25

Being reasonable about feelings 28

An uneasy truce 31

3 Hypothetical and Categorical Morality 35

Virtue and human flourishing 39

Distinctive human goods 40

Love of the Good 43

4 Naturalism and Its Discontents 46

Enriched naturalism 46

Basic goods and human flourishing 51

The pursuit of happiness 53

Ideals of universal fulfilment 55

The idea of the Good 59

Perceiving value 61

5 Natural Law 65

Natural law and divine law 65

Natural and personalist purposes 68

The Enlightenment Project 71

Quasi- and real realism 75

6 The Objectivity of the Good 80

The naturalistic fallacy 80

Moore and Platonism 82

Knowing the Good 84

The demand of the ideal 86

Contemplating the Good 88

The world viewed sub specie aeternitatis 90

Morality and purpose 92

Art and beauty 94

7 Towards Theistic Morality 97

From the Platonic Good to a personal God 97

A morally conditioned God 101

The divine-command theory 103

Divine perfection 107

A concept of God 109

Part II An Outline of a Theistic Morality

8 Moral Commitment and Moral Purpose 115

Kant's notion of creative rational will 115

The moral purpose: happiness in accordance with virtue 119

The summum bonum 123

A Kantian 'moral argument' 126

9 Kant, Evil, and Redemption 129

Kant and autonomy 129

Radical evil 131

The limits of autonomy 134

10 The Religion of Humanity 141

God and human well-being 144

God and human rights 147

Justice and desert 150

The virtues and God 153

11 The Anti-Moralists 156

Nietzsche and the will to power 156

Affirming life 160

12 The Option for the Poor 164

Marx and liberation 164

13 Sartre and Authentic Life 173

'Existence precedes essence' 173

Choosing for all humanity 175

Morality and meaning 177

Authenticity and religion 180

14 Philosophical Idealism and Religion 183

Well-being and purpose 183

Absolute Idealism 186

Personal Idealism 190

The end of morality 193

Morality and world religions 195

The beatific vision 197

15 Some Christian Doctrines 201

Sin and atonement 201

A theistic morality 207

Conclusion 213

Bibliography 216

Index of Names 220

Index of Subjects 221

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