(May 12, 2019 at 6:56 pm)Alan V Wrote:(May 12, 2019 at 6:04 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote: Having a theory of justice at all presupposes some sense of moral realism.
As compared to the moral fantasies of theism? But even theists have theories of justice.
I fail to see how theistic belief can serve as a basis for morality.
If you are acting a certain way to go to heaven/avoid hell... that's doing what's in your self interest-- not morality.
Divine command is something of an incoherent clusterfuck of an ethical theory. I think Plato handily refuted it in Euthyphro.
Natural law is okay. It is a coherent theory. It has problems (but all monistic theories have problems, so we can't count that as a strike). The theory appeals to Christians, and Aquinas (its progenitor) entwined the theory with his Christian theology. But the thing is, in principle, an atheist could adopt natural law theory as his ethics. Therefore, no God needed there either.
No one has successfully convinced me that theism is necessary for (or has anything to do with) morality.
Many theists are moral people, and some moral principles found in the Bible (like the golden rule) are excellent. But that doesn't mean theism has anything to do with morality. There doesn't have to be a god for the Golden Rule to be a sound principle.
