Ethics and Morality - A Tippling Philosopher (Page 2)

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Ethics and Morality

A collection of 146 posts

Craig on Terminating Would-Be Apostates

Here is a recent question to William Lane Craig on his Reasonable Faith website: Hi Dr Craig, I've been studying the Perseverance of the Saints and I found your paper on the subject very thought-provoking. I have been wrestling with this subject as of late and there appear

Religious Symbolism, Semper Fi and Virtue Signalling

Religious Symbolism, Semper Fi and Virtue Signalling

I wrote some time ago, when you couldn't have a conversation with someone even slightly right of centre without being accused of virtue signalling, that everyone virtue signals. Almost all the time. In the clothes you wear, the music you listen to over-loudly, in the politics you spend

Free Will and Determinism

God Is a Consequentialist. The Theist's Defence: God Is Not Moral (II)

I spent the previous piece on this topic, laying the groundwork for establishing that God is a moral consequentialist before pointing out that some theists create a defence of this accusation by claiming that God is not moral because God is under no moral obligation. What does this mean and

consequentialism

God Is a Consequentialist. The Theist's Defence: God Is Not Moral (I)

I have written an essay that can be found variously on this site called "God Is a Consequentialist" in which I set out that God is a moral consequentialist. Some of which I will now set out or paraphrase before looking at the defence William Lane Craig and

consequentialism

The Problem of Evil, Skeptical Theism and "Good Reasons"

I have been discussing the Problem of Evil (POE) a bit recently, particularly the Logical Problem of Evil (LPOE), and without wanting to defend theism and belief in God, I have been defending the logical possibility of OmniGod in light of the existence of suffering. The basis of the POE,

By Joreth (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Discussing the Logical Problem of Evil & Skeptical Theism

An interesting thread has developed on the thread to the post concerning the Logical Problem of Evil (LPOE) - thanks to those involved. I thought I would post some specific ones here for further discussion: [Slograman] @Jonathan Improbable as it may be, does LPOE also cover the morality of creating

Dietmut Teijgeman-Hansen - Flickr - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

Divine Command Theory

On Divine Command Theories

Christians are often quick to accuse atheists of having no grounding to their moral frameworks; however, the reality is that their own groundings are fraught with terminal issues. One such problematic moral framework is Divine Command Theory. The basic premise is this: morality does not exist independently of God, it

Hsiao’s Perverted Faculty Argument and Moral Oughts

The Perverted Faculty Argument (PFA) is a strand of Thomistic (Thomas Aquinas) thinking that is intertwined with Natural Law Theory (NLT) of which I have been blogging lately. I was challenged by Vincent Torley recently to, if I was going to attack the PFA (as I have done here and

Hsiao’s Perverted Faculty Argument: Doesn’t Even Get off the Ground

The Perverted Faculty Argument (PFA) is a strand of Thomistic (Thomas Aquinas) thinking that is intertwined with Natural Law Theory (NLT) of which I have been blogging lately. I was challenged by Vincent Torley recently to, if I was going to attack the PFA (as I have done here and

Some Thoughts on Hsiao's Perverted Faculty Argument

The Perverted Faculty Argument (PFA) is a strand of Thomistic (Thomas Aquinas) thinking that is intertwined with Natural Law Theory (NLT) of which I have been blogging lately. I was challenged by Vincent Torley recently to, if I was going to attack the PFA (as I have done here and

Quote of the Day: Sheila C. on Gastric Bypasses and Lesbianism

I have recently been posting quite a bit on Natural Law Theory due to the fact I am presently editing a book on the subject by another author. Natural Law Theory, in a nutshell: NLT states that behaviours that are rationally chosen by an agent that do not fit the

consequentialism

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: Heaven & Consequentialism

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

What Being a Good Person Means Is Harder To Define than You Might Think

I have talked several times before about the Netflix show, The Good Place. It's a great show that popularises philosophy and packages it for the mass market. This can only be a good thing, in my eyes. As the show comes to an end, the shows creator talks

The Recent Shootings and God

If you read this at any point forward in American time, there will have been a recent shooting, sadly enough, so the title will be perpetually relevant. The recent mass shooting atrocities, like any evil or suffering, need to be understood by religious people in the context of their god.

Dietmut Teijgeman-Hansen - Flickr - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

consequentialism

A Dialogue on Morality: Response to Guy Walker (Pt 1)

As regular readers will know, I am engaged in a debate concerning morality and whether, as humans, we are exceptional in comparison to the animal world or whether morality can be fully explained in the context of biological and natural evolution, without invoking some other mysterious unknown such as God

Religion and Society

Does Religion Cause Violence?

Of course, the problem here is in the question. What we mean by religion and what do we mean by cause and violence? The claim is certainly commonplace that religion causes violence to the point that even my own mother now often says it's in light of news

Is Evangelical Christianity Sociopathic?

There is a decent article in the Huffington Post that grapples with this question. At first, I thought it would be a reactionary piece, but it is a thought-evoking piece that had me agreeing. It opens with giving a quick summary of sociopathy before giving a few examples of such

Do You Really Believe in a Binary Heaven and Hell?

* I stole a loaf of bread. It was for my starving family. We had no other choice. * I stole two loaves of bread. I just felt I had to. I'm a kleptomaniac. * I stole 50 loaves of bread. I did it for the refugee camp just down the

ATP Interviews Alan Duval on Freedom of Speech

Here is an isolation video interview for you, a la One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAj5KhdNFgU

What Would Be Your Last Question?

Here is a sample from thinkers from the edge.com, asked by John Brockman: John Brockman, Editor of Edge, each year asks scores of notable scientists and other intellectuals one very challenging question. For 2018 he received 284 answers to: “What is the last question?” Most were about abstruse subjects.

Dietmut Teijgeman-Hansen - Flickr - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

Determinism and Moral Responsibility

Free will and determinism have been back on the blog menu over the last week or so. One commenter (Michael) asked me about morality/moral responsibility and determinism. I've written about this before and this piece is broadly taken from a previous blog article with a few additions.

Shamima Begum: On Returning Islamic Fighters

Anyone in the UK knows about the latest piece of divisive news (as in, everyone has an opinion, and they appear neatly split in two): Shamima Begum, a "Jihadi bride", who left the UK to join ISIS as a bride when she was fifteen, has just had a

The Ring of Gyges and Deterrence

The Ring of Gyges is an ancient Greek thought experiment. In simple terms: The Ring of Gyges... is a mythicalmagical artifact mentioned by the philosopher Plato in Book 2 of his Republic (2:359a–2:360d).[1] It grants its owner the power to become invisible at will. Through the

Morality: Goal Theory vs Desirism

Here are two atheists, Richard Carrier and Mike McKay, debating morality some time back. I am showing this because I think I will be doing a post or two on desirism at some point, a la Alonso Fyfe. I do have fairly similar views to Carrier's on morality

Come to Portsmouth to See Me and Alan Duval Give a Talk on Morality

It's the dream team, there's no doubt about it. Pearce and Duval, Portsmouth Skeptics in the Pub, 10th January, morality. What more could you want for the new year? We are going to lay out our ideas about what the main theories of morality are, spending