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Monday, January 18, 2010

Oppy on Moral Arguments (Index)

I seem to have an obsession with arguments linking morality to religious belief. I'm not entirely sure why this is since moral arguments tend to be pretty weak. I think my reasoning is something along the following lines:
Although there are good, independent reasons for rejecting the existence of God, moral arguments have a particular practical importance. This is because moral purpose is central to the religious life: unless God provides you with moral purpose, why bother adopting a worshipful stance toward him? Also, if I think religions have socially pernicious effects, it is usually because they support a certain moral ethos. So, if I am interested in combating these pernicious effects, I will have to combat moral arguments.
Anyway, in light of my obsession, I am going to cover the section on moral arguments in Graham Oppy's book Arguing About Gods. This is not one of the stronger sections of the book, but he does dismiss ten moral arguments with reasonable aplomb.



I'll cover all ten, in ten separate posts. They should be fairly brief.

Here's the index:

1. The Argument from Objective Value

2. The Argument from Virtue

3. The Argument from Happiness

4. The Argument from Scripture

5. The Argument from the Need for Justice

6. The Argument from the Costs of Irreligion

7. The Argument from Heavenly Reward

8. The Argument from Conscience

9. The Argument from Convergence

10. The Argument from Practical Reason

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