What is the Morality Argument?
Immanuel Kant said that people have a powerful sense of right and wrong; an inbuilt sense of morality. This sense comes from a source outside themselves. It must be very intelligent, good, and must have existed before time; it is a higher authority, i.e. God. Therefore God exists.
- State the Morality argument
- People have an inbuilt sense of morality since they know right from wrong
- Everyone has a conscience even if he or she does not follow it; some theists argue that conscience is the voice of God
- People follow moral principles even when they would prefer to do something else
- Being moral deserves justice, but not everyone who acts morally has a happy life, therefore God must exist to reward people for living a good life
Weaknesses
- Morality itself cannot easily be proved to exist - no scientific proof
- Morality is formed from socially defined rules or laws that were developed to control people
- Morality is part of evolution since survival depends on cooperation with others
- Guilty feelings are not from God; guilt occurs when people go against their upbringing / society / family / religion. Furthermore, not everyone feels guilty.
- Some people seem not to have a conscience
- Atheists question why being good should be rewarded by a happy life / no such link between the two / there is no afterlife so no reward for a moral life.
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