In a previous post, Divine Commands and Pyschopathic Tendancies, I said I would look in more detail at Sam Harris’ charge that Divine Command Theories (“DCT”) of meta-ethics are psychopathic. In this, and in several forthcoming posts, I will attempt to deliver on that promise. In Harris’ debate with William Lane Craig at Notre Dame, transcript […]
Entries Tagged as 'God and Morality'
Sam Harris on Divine Commands: Part I
May 24th, 2013 7 Comments
Tags: Debates · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural? · Religion and Violence · Sam Harris · William Lane Craig
Mark Murphy Reviews Walter Sinnott-Armstrong.
April 30th, 2012 3 Comments
Those who have followed my recent discussions of Walter Sinnott-Armstrong’s writings on God and Morality. Might be interested in this review of Armstrong’s book “Morality without God” by Mark Murphy in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Mark is a lecturer in moral philosophy at Georgetown University. He is is one of the leading critics of divine command ethics […]
Tags: Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Mark Murphy · Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Thinking Matters Youth Conference
February 16th, 2012 2 Comments
This Saturday is the first, of hopefully many, Thinking Matters Youth Conference, the schedule is below. I am leading a breakout session on Moral Relativism WHEN: Saturday, February 18 WHERE: Greenlane Christian Centre, 17 Marewa Rd, Greenlane, Auckland COST: $10 Schedule: 10am Registration 10.30am Jeff Tallon – Is Science a Threat to Faith? 11.30am Sean […]
Tags: Apologetics · God and Morality · Relativism · Thinking Matters · Tim McGrew
Is Ethical Naturalism more Plausible than Supernaturalism? A Reply to Walter Sinnott-Armstrong Part I
February 7th, 2012 9 Comments
This is first half of the paper I presented to the Naturalisms in Ethics Conference at Auckland University last year. In many of his addresses and debates William Lane Craig has defended a Divine Command Theory of moral obligation (“DCT”). In a recent article Walter Sinnott-Armstrong has criticized this contention.[1] Armstrong contends that even if […]
Tags: Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Robert Adams · Walter Sinnott-Armstrong · William Lane Craig
Contra Mundum: When Scientists Make Bad Ethicists
October 10th, 2011 399 Comments
One thing I find particularly frustrating is reading commentary on theology and philosophy written by scientists. To be fair, some scientists I have read are informed and do offer astute and insightful comments; commonly, however, one finds a person who is undoubtedly brilliant in their own field, writing with confident gusto, articles that fail to […]
Tags: Charles Darwin · Contra Mundum · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Investigate Magazine · Jerry Coyne · Robert Adams · Science and Religion
Does Moral Commitment Presuppose Belief in Providence?
July 21st, 2011 36 Comments
Last week I had the privilege of hearing Professor John Hare, of Yale Divinity school, speak on God and morality at the Naturalisms in Ethics and APRA conferences. One idea Hare proposes, which fascinates me, is that commitment to morality presupposes belief in what he calls “strong providence” the position that “the world is so […]
Tags: God and Morality · Happiness · John Hare
Transcript: Sam Harris v William Lane Craig Debate “Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural?” UPDATED
May 3rd, 2011 82 Comments
Sam Harris and William Lane Craig debated the moot “Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural?” at the University of Notre Dame on 7 April 2011. We’ve already linked to the debate MP3 and a playlist of the video and we have published a two part review but now, as an MandM exclusive, we bring […]
Tags: Debates · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural? · Notre Dame · Sam Harris · Transcript · William Lane Craig
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
