RELIGION AND

MORALITY

P1. Moral norms exist and have authority.

P2. If they have authority, there must be a reliable motive for human beings to be moral.

P3. No such motive could exist, unless there was an omniscient, omnipresent, wholly just agent to attach sanctions to behavior under moral norms.

C1. Therefore God exists

THE ARGUMENT FROM MORAL NORMS(FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD)

"If there is no order to the universe, and therefore some being, some force that ordered it, then who determines what is right or wrong? There is nothing immoral if there's nothing in charge.”

- Reverend Al Sharpton

IS MORALITY POSSIBLE WITHOUT RELIGION?

Does anyone truly believe that our ancestors lacked social norms before they had religion? Did they never assist others in need or complain about an unfair deal?

- Frans de Waal

IS MORALITY POSSIBLE WITHOUT GOD?SEVERAL DISTINCT QUESTIONS

It’s important here to separate:

• Moral sentiments - empathy, compassion, altruism, love, shame

• Moral judgments of good/bad right/wrong • Moral motivation - the motivation to do what is good or

right1. Are atheists actually less, more, or equally as moral as theists?

2. What can serve as the source of moral value?

(God’s word? Social norms? Instincts? Empathy? Rationality?)

3. Is religion conceptually or socially better placed to encourage moral behavior than non-religion?

4. What counts as a proper motivation for performing a moral action? (Because you want to? Because you recognize that you have to? Because it’s in your interests - e.g. you want heavenly rewards?)

THE EUTHYPHRO DILEMMA

"Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?”

- Plato, “Euthyphro”, 10A

Is what is morally good commanded by God because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by God?

OPTION 1:

God commands what is morally good because it is morally good

OPTION 2:

God’s commandment is what makes something morally good

FATAL FLAW:

God has nothing to do with whether something is or is not good. God is not the basis of morality.

FATAL FLAW:

Goodness is an arbitrary product of God’s will. God is not the basis of morality.

Genuine altruism and morality in other species?• chimpanzees and bonobos will

voluntarily open a door to offer a companion access to food, even if they lose part of it in the process.

• dominant monkeys (those who have least to fear) are the most generous.

• when Peony’s (an old Chimpanzee) arthritis is flaring up, she has trouble walking and climbing, but other females help her out

• chimpanzees commonly console distressed parties, hugging and kissing them

• primates will happily perform a task for cucumber slices until they see others getting grapes, which taste so much better.

MORALITY AND EVOLUTION

- Frans de Waal

• Our moral sentiments and intuitions come to us from our evolutionary background as social animals.

• Morality starts from these sentiments, but strives beyond them for logical coherence and principled explanations.

MORALITY AND MORAL EMOTIONS - Frans de Waal

Q: How do we know stealing is wrong? (explanation)

A: God, who knows everything, reveals this to us.

Q: Why should we not steal? (motivation)

A: God watches us and judges us on our actions. If we steal, we will suffer. If we refrain, we will be rewarded.

Q: How do we know stealing is wrong? (explanation)

A: We have good arguments that justify our belief that this is so.

Q: Why should we not steal? (motivation)

A: It would make us hypocrites, since we do not want others to steal from us. And we don’t want to be hypocrites

Example of religious application

Example of alternative philosophical

application

HOW DOES RELIGION FIT INTO THIS?

Religion gives us a supporting narrative for morality – it’s an attempt to explain, justify, and motivate us to do and be good.

- Frans de Waal