In denigrating atheists, theists will often claim that we have no basis for morals nor a grounding for ethics. We don’t have a book; we don’t have a source; we don’t have commandments that tell us, as atheists, how to be good. Engaging the issue, atheists often make the mistake of listing all the good things that we do as citizens and generally altruistic human beings and rightly we are proud of our efforts. But we aren’t necessarily more moral or ethical than anyone else, and so, if we take credit for the good things we do, we have skipped a crucial step in argumentation: We haven’t defined our terms. Asking Christians to define ethics and morals based on the actions we take and contemplate in our daily lives, we often discover that it really comes down to their belief that they are “saved,” and we are not.
Dr. Dan Fincke is a professor of philosophy and has written several articles discussing the issues of ethics and morality. He returns to Atheists Talk to explain empowerment ethics and how we can use objective, non-religious means to develop ethics and morals.
Related Links:
- Atheist Humility, Dan Fincke
- How Can Atheists Condemn Rape Without Theistic Moral Absolutism? Dan Fincke
- Does Everyone Mean Something Different by the Word Good? Dan Fincke
- How Can We Find External Criteria to Assess Morality’s Truth and Authority? Dan Fincke
- Empowerment Ethics (Collection of Links) at Camels With Hammers
- Only Real Gods Agree with William Lane Craig, Rosa Rubicondior
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