Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe

This book argues that even if God does not exist, human life can have meaning.

Erik J. Wielenberg (Author)

9780521607841, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 February 2005

204 pages
22.8 x 15.6 x 1.1 cm, 0.29 kg

'… the book has much to recommend it and there are moments when it is quite provocative … there is plenty in this book to appeal to atheists, theists, and agnostics alike. It is both readable and rewarding; many interesting questions are raised, and at times novel and compelling solutions to old chestnuts are proposed … the author keeps things lively by inserting creative stories, passages from literature, and a breadth of commentaries from other thinkers who have wrestled with the issues he addreses. Anyone interested in the relationship between God, value, and virtue would benefit from adding this book to their collection.' International Journal for Philiosophy of Religion

Suppose there is no God. This might imply that human life is meaningless, that there are no moral obligations and hence people can do whatever they want, and that the notions of virtue and vice and good and evil have no place. Erik J. Wielenberg believes this view to be mistaken and in this book he explains why. He argues that even if God does not exist, human life can have meaning, we do have moral obligations, and virtue is possible. Naturally, the author sees virtue in a Godless universe as different from virtue in a Christian universe, and he develops naturalistic accounts of humility, charity, and hope. The moral landscape in a Godless universe is different from the moral landscape in a Christian universe, but it does indeed exist. Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe is a tour of some of the central landmarks of this under-explored territory.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I. God and the Meaning of Life: 1. The meanings of life
2. Four arguments that life lacks internal meaning without God
3. Richard Taylor's way out: creating your own meaning
4. Peter Singer's way out: meaning through eliminating pain
5. Aristotle's way out: intrinsically good activity
Part II. God and Morality: 6. God as the omnipotent creator of ethics
7. Criticism of the strong position
8. Criticism of the weak position
9. An alternative account
10. God as divine commander
Part III. The Divine Guarantee of Perfect Justice: 11. Why be moral?
12. First answer: because morality and self-interest coincide
13. Second answer: because you ought to
14. The divine guarantee of perfect justice and Kant's moral argument
15. Divine justice, self-sacrifice, and moral absurdity
16. Absolute evil and moral faith
17. Where we are now
Part IV. Ethical Character in a Godless Universe: 18. A new assumption
19. The fall of man: pride and disobedience
20. Humility, Christian and naturalistic
21. From humility to charity
22. Hope and heroism
23. Moral education and science
Part V. Creeds to Live By: 24. To believe or not to believe?
25. A creed we can live by?
Notes
References.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of religion [HRAB], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]