Brigham Young: Racist Prophet of the Mormons – Part 1

August 24, 2013 by

Brigham Young was a racist white man who initiated racial discrimination into the official policies and practices of the Mormon church (more specifically: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement).One key racist policy of the Mormons was to exclude blacks from "the priesthood". In the Mormon faith "priesthood" was not limited to just a few select members of the church (as in the Catholic faith). Any adult male or boy who is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: apologetics, books of interest, Christianity, ethics, religion, skepticism Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Terence Cuneo Reviews C. Stephen Evans’ new book, God and Moral Obligation

August 15, 2013 by

The review is found at Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews here. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: books of interest, metaethics, nontheistic metaethics, theistic metaethics Tagged With: ,

Richard Schoenig’s New Paper: “Objective Ethics Without Religion”

August 6, 2013 by

Abstract: Theists frequently aver that atheism is incompatible with moral realism (the view that there are objective moral facts). This paper defends a justifiable objective moral code, termed ethical rationalism (ER), that does not depend on the existence of any supernatural being. ER is a seven-principle moral code comprising two general prescriptions: do not harm others and help them whenever feasible. It is argued that ER (and hence objective morality) is justified by the fact that all moral … [Read more...]

Filed Under: metaethics, moral argument, nontheistic metaethics, theistic metaethics Tagged With:

Really Handy Survey of Metaethics

July 15, 2013 by

I have no idea if the site posting this actually has the copyright permissions to do this or not, but there is a site with the entire copy of Walter Sinnott-Armstrong's book, Moral Skepticisms, available as a PDF file.For those of you with an interest in learning more about metaethics--such as the distinction between "moral metaphysics" (moral ontology), "moral linguistics" (moral semantics), and so forth, check out pages 5-7 of the PDF file, especially the diagram on page 6. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: books of interest, metaethics

Louise Antony on Divine Goodness

July 14, 2013 by

I'm reading Debating Christian Theism, based on Keith Parsons's recommendation. I just finished reading the essays by Paul Copan and Louise Antony debating moral arguments for God's existence. Antony's essay ends with a very interesting point. In a way, it’s puzzling why, of all God’s attributes, moral goodness is the one held to be constituted merely by God’s possessing it. God is omniscient, but what’s true is not held to be true in virtue of God’s believing it; God is omnipotent, but somethin … [Read more...]

Filed Under: moral argument, theistic metaethics Tagged With:

A Quick and Easy Refutation of Theologically-Grounded Ethics?

July 8, 2013 by

According to many skeptics, including many philosophers, the idea that God is the foundation of morality can be refuted according to the Euthyphro dilemma (ED). Socrates, in Plato's Euthyphro dialogue (10a), asked: "Is what is holy holy because the gods approve it, or do they approve it because it is holy?" In modern times this has been rephrased in various ways. Here's one: "Is what is good good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?"Is this a good objection? It … [Read more...]

Filed Under: metaethics, moral argument, theistic metaethics Tagged With:

Gay men can marry lesbians, say Catholic church

July 4, 2013 by

I thought this was satire when I read it, but apparently this is for real.http://planetivy.co.uk/offbeat/52058/senior-catholic-priest-says-gay-men-can-marry-lesbians/ … [Read more...]

Filed Under: applied ethics, society & culture Tagged With:

An Astonishingly Bad Argument against Gay Marriage

June 29, 2013 by

Over at The Christian Post, General Jerry Ralph Curry gives an astonishingly bad argument against gay marriage. Should SCOTUS actually declare homosexuality a civil right, it logically follows that polygamy, pedophilia and bestiality would one day also be declared a civil right by the Court. In spite of society’s thirst for more modernism, inclusiveness and diversity, who would want to live in the midst of such moral depravity? . . . (emphasis mine) Umm, in a word, "No."With all due res … [Read more...]

Filed Under: applied ethics, society & culture Tagged With: ,

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