Sunday, April 07, 2013

Atheistic Moral Outrage and Square Circles

Munson Park, Monroe


I'm with this quote from David Baggett and Jerry Walls. What it shows is that, in spite of atheistic incredulity at theistic positing of God as metaphysical foundation for the ontological status of morality, atheistic solutions are logically wild and weird and incomprehensible. As they say, atheistic "moral outrage" sounds like it comes from a world where square circles and married bachelors find their home.

They write, and take note:

"What would be the objective, ontological nature of a moral principle, or moral standard, in a world where mind, soul, and personhood were completely reducible to materialistic entities—whether finally spelled out in the language of matter or physical energy? It’s difficult, if not just impossible, for these critics of theism to come up with an answer that seems any less “strange” than the ultimate components of the philosophical worldview they are urging us so passionately to avoid. But, notoriously, rejecting any objectively metaphysical basis for moral judgments reduces them to some form of “I don’t like it” or “My peer group/cultural context/posse of fellow skeptics doesn’t like it.” And this takes a considerable amount of the sting out of any moral outrage that’s being shown, to put it mildly."
- David Baggett and Jerry Walls, Good God : The Theistic Foundations of Morality, K53.