The Autonomy of Morals. Two Analytic Arguments Cover Image

The Autonomy of Morals. Two Analytic Arguments
The Autonomy of Morals. Two Analytic Arguments

Author(s): Adrian Paul Iliescu
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: SACRI – Societatea Academica de Cercetare a Religiilor si Ideologiilor
Keywords: autonomy of ethics; moral truth; convention; foundationalism; moral authority; moral theism; rigid moral designators; theist exclusivism

Summary/Abstract: The theist thesis that any true ethics must be a religious one is criticized from two different angles; it is shown that: (i) in order to avoid divine voluntarism, theism uses a supposition the acceptance of which makes arguments against autonomous ethics un- acceptable, for they inevitably beg the question; (ii) it assumes a kind of moral foun- dationalism which is, according to some Wittgensteinean arguments, utterly superfluous; the idea that any authoritative ethics needs the absolute authority of God can thus be shown to be unjustified.

  • Issue Year: 9/2010
  • Issue No: 26
  • Page Range: 3-17
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: English