Download Intro to Christian Ethics

LO: I will justify my response to the view that
Morality can exist without God.
CHRISTMAS HOMEWORK: Revise for end of unit
assessment on Kantian Ethics. First week after
the Christmas holidays.
NB: First lesson back after Christmas will be a
revision lesson on Kant. Please bring with you
your revision notes for that lesson.
 How
would define if something is ‘good’ or
‘bad’ ethical behaviour? What criteria would
you use to judge whether or not an action
was moral or immoral?
 ‘Is
something right because God commands it
or does God command it because it is right?’

What is the difference in meaning between the
two parts of the Euthyphro dilemma?
Euthyphro’s dilemma:
 Remember
two Issues with each side to the
dilemma …


Some say that if morals are separate from God, then
this diminishes God, because God is deferring to a
higher set of absolutes rules.
Some say if morals are good because God commands
them, they seem arbitrary and not good in
themselves. This means that God could have
commanded the opposite and it would have been
good. E.g. “Murder one another.”
Solutions???
 Something
is good simply because God
commands it

God says it, that settles it.
 What
is good moral behaviour?
 How does God factor into this? Should he? Is
it possible to have moral behaviour
independent of belief in God?
 Assuming there is a God, is an action good
because God declares it to be good, or does
God declare it to be good because it IS good
in itself.
 ‘Humanism is an approach to life based on reason and our
common humanity, recognising that moral values are properly
founded on human nature and experience alone. Humanists value
ideas for which there is evidence, and the things inside and
around us that make life worth living.
Humanists believe that moral values are not dependent on
religion and that it is untrue, and unfair to non-religious people
and a damaging idea in an increasingly secular society to assert
otherwise. Humanists believe that moral values evolved, and
continue to evolve, along with human nature and society and are
indeed based on human nature, experience and society. If human
civilisation were to develop all over again, it is highly unlikely
that exactly the same religions would develop. But it is very
likely that our basic moral principles would be the same,
because human beings, who have evolved to live in groups, need
the kinds of rules which enable us to live together cocooperatively and harmoniously …’
A. J. Ayer
 Do
objective moral values exist? Should they
exist?
 Could they exist independently of God?
 William
Lane Craig:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9xZyYv
Ep_c
 We
will read through the article by Law
together.

Once we have done that, your task will be to do
the following:
1.
Produce a concise written summary of Law’s main
points
Whilst doing so, be thinking about your response to
Law. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
 We
have read through and discussed Law’s
argument in favour of the view that we can
have morality without religion.
 Your homework is to read and summarise the
main points arguing against the view that
morality can exist without God (or without
religion) given from C S Lewis.
 Can
with have Morality without God?
 Is belief in God redundant (no longer needed)
when it comes to Ethics?