copan, paul. god, naturalism, and the foundations of … · god, naturalism, and the foundations of...

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God, Naturalism, and the Foundations of Morality

first

Second

Future_Body 2PP.indd 141 7/24/08 3:34:38 PM

order of knowingorder of being

be

Third Fourth

Finally

The Proper Basicality of Moral Values

not


objectivity of ethics

discovered invented

not


sense reasoning moral

unless

noninferential directly apprehended firmcomprehensible

pretheoretical


not

Knowing versus Being, Metaphysical Contexts, and Choosing the Better Alternative

Knowing versus Being

no reason at all


bothand

know knowing being

Epistemologicallyall

Ontologically

actual ground basis

ab

knowbe

The Metaphysical Context

created moral constitution


mental physical

begin stumped

anyis

personal per-sons


implicity: a

b

symmetrical Necessity:

osmic Coincidence (or Arbitrariness :

moral factsmorally responsible agents

anticipating

once

nature


arbitrari-ness

ccounting for Human Value:

Deciding between Naturalism and Theism

We should prefer the theory that affords the more natural (that is, less ad hoc) transition from the overall theory to the entity in question

We should prefer a worldview that is a kind of grand unifying factor for a wide range of features


We should prefer a hypothesis/worldview whose relevant features are deeper or more basic than those in alternative worldviews

step further

The Inadequacy of Various Naturalistic Moral Systems

a intellectualergon

telos b

c


presupposes posits

recognize

Naturalistic Evolutionary Ethics

think illusion

because we think it has an objective status corporate illusion

naturalistic Origin of Species

Origin


Arbitrary Morality?

A Natural History of Rape

is ought

ought

begins


Skepticism about Ethics

true are

Can we even trust our minds if we are nothing more than the products of naturalistic evolution trying to fight, feed, flee, and repro-duce?

objective moralityrational thought survive

truemay believe

could well helpcompletely false

truth-status


still

And

beliefs

have

know

Naturalism’s Undermining of Ethics


Moral Values Defy Physical Description

background contextual

Goodness Is Scientifically Superfluous

descriptions

ought


isnon

necessary

relevantexplain

Naturalists Themselves Confess . . .


Naturalism May Undercut Moral Motivation

The Euthyphro Problem

Calvin and Hobbes


Euthyphro

arbitrary becauseshall

autonomous moral standard

God’s good character nature


commands of God naturecharacter

knowconstitution

pro nobis

with

character

mutatis mutandis

they


alreadydepend

Conclusion


copan, paul. god, naturalism, and the foundations of … · god, naturalism, and the foundations of...

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