Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe

✍ Scribed by Erik J. Wielenberg

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 205
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Suppose there is no God. This supposition implies that human life is meaningless, that there are no moral obligations and hence people can do whatever they want, and that the notions of virtue and vice, right and wrong, and good and evil have no place in the universe. Erik J. Wielenberg believes this view to be utterly erroneous and, in this thought-provoking book, he explains the reasons why. He argues that, even if God does not exist, human life can still have meaning, humans do have moral obligations, and human virtue is still possible. Wielenberg offers readers a cognent explanation of the ethical implications of naturalism--a view that denies the existence of the supernatural in human life. In his view virtue exists in a godless universe but it is significantly different from virtue in a Christian universe, and he develops naturalistic accounts of humility, charity, and hope. The overarching theme of Virtue and Value in a Godless Universe is what ethics might look like without God. Erik Wielenberg takes readers on an extraordinary tour of some of the central landmarks of this under-explored territory.

✦ Table of Contents

COVER......Page 1
HALF-TITLE......Page 3
TITLE......Page 5
COPYRIGHT......Page 6
DEDICATION......Page 7
CONTENTS......Page 9
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 11
INTRODUCTION......Page 13
1.1 THE MEANINGS OF LIFE......Page 26
1.2 FOUR ARGUMENTS THAT LIFE LACKS INTERNAL MEANING WITHOUT GOD......Page 27
1.3 RICHARD TAYLOR'S WAY OUT: CREATING YOUR OWN MEANING......Page 30
1.4 PETER SINGER'S WAY OUT: MEANING THROUGH ELIMINATING PAIN......Page 35
1.5 ARISTOTLE'S WAY OUT: INTRINSICALLY GOOD ACTIVITY......Page 43
2.1 GOD AS THE OMNIPOTENT CREATOR OF ETHICS......Page 50
2.2 CRITICISM OF THE STRONG POSITION......Page 53
2.3 CRITICISM OF THE WEAK POSITION......Page 60
2.4 AN ALTERNATIVE ACCOUNT......Page 63
2.5 GOD AS DIVINE COMMANDER......Page 65
3.1 WHY BE MORAL?......Page 80
3.2 FIRST ANSWER: BECAUSE MORALITY AND SELF-INTEREST COINCIDE......Page 82
3.3 SECOND ANSWER: BECAUSE YOU OUGHT TO......Page 89
3.4 THE DIVINE GUARANTEE OF PERFECT JUSTICE AND KANT'S MORAL ARGUMENT......Page 92
3.5 DIVINE JUSTICE, SELF-SACRIFICE, AND MORAL ABSURDITY......Page 101
3.6 ABSOLUTE EVIL AND MORAL FAITH......Page 106
3.7 WHERE WE ARE NOW......Page 109
4.2 THE FALL OF MAN: PRIDE AND DISOBEDIENCE......Page 110
4.3 HUMILITY, CHRISTIAN AND NATURALISTIC......Page 114
4.4 FROM HUMILITY TO CHARITY......Page 124
4.5 HOPE AND HEROISM......Page 128
4.6 MORAL EDUCATION AND SCIENCE......Page 139
5.1 TO BELIEVE OR NOT TO BELIEVE?......Page 155
5.2 A CREED WE CAN LIVE BY?......Page 164
INTRODUCTION......Page 173
1. GOD AND THE MEANING OF LIFE......Page 174
2. GOD AND MORALITY......Page 177
3. THE DIVINE GUARANTEE OF PERFECT JUSTICE......Page 182
4. ETHICAL CHARACTER IN A GODLESS UNIVERSE......Page 186
5. CREEDS TO LIVE BY......Page 191
REFERENCES......Page 195
INDEX......Page 201