Transcript 252508godandmorality2

Lecture 8
Question that Plato put
into the mouth of Socrates
Did the gods discover or invent the moral order?
Is conduct right because the gods command
it?
 Or do the gods command it because it’s right?

Beginning with basics...
What are values?
Beginning with basics...
What are values?













Promise keeping
Equality
Friendship
Fairness
Honesty
Good health
Honour
Courage
Kindness
Owning things
A lucrative job
A challenging career
Etc……
Beginning with basics...
What are values?













Promise keeping
Equality
Friendship
Fairness
Honesty
Good health
Honour
Bravery
Kindness
Owning things
A lucrative job
A challenging career
Etc……
 Which are moral
values?
The Ten
Commandments.
Josip Turkalj
Notre Dame Campus
What I learned in Kindergarten....
What I learned in Kindergarten....









Don’t take things that don’t belong to you
Return what you borrow
Take turns
Don’t hit or bite or bully
Don’t lie
Respect other people
Respect yourself
Mind your own business
Don’t tattle-tale
The Flood...The Sistine Chapel
God’s promise by the rainbow...

The boys were throwing the stones in jest.
But the frogs were dying in earnest…

Westboro Baptist Church
Topeka, Kansas
West Wing: Dr. Jacobs and the Bible
The Sermon on the Mount...
The moral teaching of Jesus
Eight Beatitudes (blessings)
But then....
The Scapegoat...
Friedrich Nietzsche...
Master and Slave Morality
Nietzsche condemns the
triumph of slave morality in
the West...
Friedrich Nietzsche...

“The Christian resolution
to find the world ugly and
bad has made the world
ugly and bad.”
The Gay Science, section 130
German philosopher (1844 - 1900)
Rachels’ conclusion...

Religious considerations do not provide
definitive solutions to most of the specific
moral issues we face
 Demonstrated in regards to homosexuality
 Demonstrated in regards to abortion
Rachels’ conclusion...

Religion doesn’t have a special place at the
discussion
 No special insight
 No special knowledge
 No special gift
Communism...
Communism....OED definition...

A theory which advocates a state of society
in which there should be no private
ownership, all property being vested in the
community and labour organized for the
common benefit of all members; the
professed principle being that each should
work according to his capacity, and receive
according to his wants.

(originally called Equalitarianism...)
Communism...other defs...
A Maoist view:
 Communism is the abolition of power of
people over people. This means abolishing
"oppression," whether the oppression be of
nations by nations, classes by classes,
women by men or any other division in
society. Communism is based on mutual
cooperation, peace and justice instead of
oppression.
Communism...other defs...
A Capitalist view:
 Communism is a type of totalitarianism. It has
the following characteristics:
1. a massive repression system run by a well
established secret police force
2. an official and far-reaching system for
denunciatory activities, single party rule,
censorship
3. imposition of an official (“the only correct”) state
ideology and appearance of newspeak
Early (communist) Christians...

"Now the whole group of those who believed
were of one heart and soul, and no one
claimed private ownership of any possessions,
but everything they owned was held in
common.....There was not a needy person
among them, for as many as owned lands or
houses sold them and brought the proceeds of
what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet,
and it was distributed to each as any had
need." [Acts 4:32-5]
Dorothy Day...
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day

Social Activist,
Journalist, 1897-1980

"The biggest mistake
sometimes is to play
things very safe in
this life and end up
being moral failures."
The condom // AIDS debate
What values are the
participants calling
on?
The condom // AIDS debate
What values are the
participants calling
on?






Right to health
Obedience
First, do no harm
Free choice
Untrammelled information
Fairness
What did Stephen Lewis say to the
Church?