Can One Be Moral And Not Believe In God Analysis
Can One Be Moral and Not Believe In God?
Aleshia Wisch
PHI208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning
Prof. Michael Kellam
October 2, 2013
Can One Be Moral and Not Believe In God? Is it possible for an individual to live morally without believing in God? For someone who believes in God this may be a difficult question to answer. Whereas, someone who does not believe in God might immediately say that having morals has nothing to do with religion. So, to answer this question, we will look at what it means to have morals, compare the views of an Atheist and a Catholic, and look how ethics plays a role in answering this question. In the end, we will see that it is not necessary to believe in a higher power to live morally. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a moral is defined as …show more content…
Ethics is the way an individual justifies their decision on what is means to have morals. Lawler (2013) states,
“Contemporary ethics takes three normative approaches to determining the morality of an action: (1) the utilitarian approach, which gauges morality by utility; (2) the deontological approach, which emphasizes rules, obligations, and duties; and (3) the “new” virtue-ethical approach, which gives precedence not to the actions of the agents but to their personal characters formed in their respective moral communities and learned through the imitation of the respected role models in those communities” (p. 443, Para. 2).
Which view each individual will agree with will drastically vary. Each approach has integrity and will serve the same purpose in determining what is right from wrong. The difference is in the approach, whether by utility, rules, or an individual’s actions. However, even though these views may come up with the same conclusion, which is the best ethical
Aleshia Wisch
PHI208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning
Prof. Michael Kellam
October 2, 2013
Can One Be Moral and Not Believe In God? Is it possible for an individual to live morally without believing in God? For someone who believes in God this may be a difficult question to answer. Whereas, someone who does not believe in God might immediately say that having morals has nothing to do with religion. So, to answer this question, we will look at what it means to have morals, compare the views of an Atheist and a Catholic, and look how ethics plays a role in answering this question. In the end, we will see that it is not necessary to believe in a higher power to live morally. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a moral is defined as …show more content…
Ethics is the way an individual justifies their decision on what is means to have morals. Lawler (2013) states,
“Contemporary ethics takes three normative approaches to determining the morality of an action: (1) the utilitarian approach, which gauges morality by utility; (2) the deontological approach, which emphasizes rules, obligations, and duties; and (3) the “new” virtue-ethical approach, which gives precedence not to the actions of the agents but to their personal characters formed in their respective moral communities and learned through the imitation of the respected role models in those communities” (p. 443, Para. 2).
Which view each individual will agree with will drastically vary. Each approach has integrity and will serve the same purpose in determining what is right from wrong. The difference is in the approach, whether by utility, rules, or an individual’s actions. However, even though these views may come up with the same conclusion, which is the best ethical