Moral Foundations

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Moral Foundations
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Definitions Religion

• Religion institution that conveys symbols and
  traditions of a shared belief in a transcendent
  being or higher power that controls human life /
  destiny
• Problem of transcendent being and humans
• Theories of how God communicates- mysticism-
  sacred text (revealed? Or interpreted?)

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Definitions Morals and Ethics

• Morals concepts of right/wrong, good/bad
• Ethics study of systems of moral concepts and
  their justification
• Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Ethics

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Does Morality Depend Upon Religion?

• Presumed connection
• Two answers from Jewish/Christian tradition1)
  Divine Command Theory2) Theory of Natural Law

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Divine Command Theory

• Morally right if commanded by God
• Morally wrong if condemned by God
• Challenges to theory- Socrates

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Theory of Natural Law

• God creates nature with a purpose
• Laws of nature describe both how things arehow
  they ought to be
• What is natural is morally right
• What is unnatural is morally wrong
• Challenges to theory
• Defense

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James Rachels Key Claim

• When people claim their moral views are derived
  from religious commitments, they are mistaken.
  In reality, something very different is going on.
  They are making up their minds about the moral
  issues first and then interpreting the
  Scriptures, or church tradition, in such a way as
  to support the moral conclusion they have already
  reached (page 65).

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Rachels Support for Key Claim

• Scriptural interpretation applied to - Abortion
• - Homosexuality
• Subjective quality of interpretation- historical
  context ignored- church tradition inconsistent

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James Rachels Conclusion

• Morality is a matter of reason and conscience,
  not religious faith . . . The arguments we have
  considered do not assume that Christianity (or
  any other theological system) is false they
  merely show that even if such a system is true,
  morality remains an independent matter.(page
  69).

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Key Questions

• How will character be formed in our society?
• How will we teach our children to be moral people
  without a religious foundation?
• How do we maintain a moral foundation without
  violating the first amendments protection
  against religious oppression?
• Has our tolerance for diverse religions (or even
  no religion) caused us to be prone to skepticism,
  believing little and lightly?

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Michelangelo's Creation of Adam
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Michael Ramirez Cartoon 2
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Michael Ramirez Cartoon 1