Does morality come from or rely on religion or God?

Does morality come from or rely on religion or God? If you’re writing on this topic, you should probably focus on a particular way in which morality might be seen to come from or rely on religion or God – metaphysical (as in supernaturalism or modified supernaturalism or modified Neoplatonic supernaturalism as accounts of where morality comes from and as responses to the Euthyphro dilemma), practical (as in religion’s giving us reasons for why we should care about morality and why we should be moral), or epistemic (as in religion being how we figure out and know what morality requires of us). First, choose to defend the view that morality does come from or rely on religion or God, or the view that it does not, and specify in what way (metaphysical, practical/motivational, or epistemic). State your thesis (and the reasons/arguments you will give in support of it) in your introductory paragraph. Second, explain the view you choose to defend (metaphysical, motivational, or epistemic), and present an argument in favour of it. Third, consider the best response/objection you can think of to this argument from the point of view of the opposing position. Finally, evaluate whether this response/objection can be overcome by the theory you defend, and support your conclusion with reasons.
For example: you might argue for modified supernaturalism (MSN), and then present the Euthyphro dilemma as a possible obstacle, and then explain how you think MSN can overcome it. Or, you might argue that morality doesn’t depend on religion, upholding the Euthyphro dilemma and choosing the second horn of the dilemma to argue for intuitionism. You might then respond to an objection from the supernaturalist who thinks that without God we can’t explain where objective moral commands (duties, obligations) would come from, or from the modified supernaturalist who thinks modified supernaturalism resolves the dilemma. Or, you might argue that we can’t settle questions like whether God exists, at least not in a philosophy class or in public affairs even if we hold to a belief on the matter in private, and so argue that we should set aside such questions and opt for ideal observer theory or some other view that makes ethics independent of God’s will.

Book used in class readings – Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction, Third Edition, by Harry Gensler (Routledge, 2018)

Last Completed Projects