In denigrating atheists, theists will often claim that we have no basis for morals nor a grounding for ethics. We don't have a book, we don't have a source, we don't have commandments that tell us, as atheists, how to be good. Engaging the issue, atheists often make the mistake of listing all the good things that we do as citizens and generally altruistic human beings and rightly we are proud of our efforts. But, we aren't necessarily more moral or ethical than anyone else and so, if we take credit for the good things we do we have skipped a crucial step in argumentation: we haven't defined our terms. When I have asked Christians to define ethics and morals based on the actions we take and contemplate in our daily lives, I discover that it really comes down to their belief that they are "saved," and we are not.
Dr. Dan Fincke is a professor of Philosophy and has written several articles discussing the issues of ethics and morality and is going to return to Atheists Talk to explain Empowerment Ethics and how we can use objective, non-religious means to develop ethics and morals.
Related Links:
- Atheist Humility, Dan Fincke
- How Can Atheists Condemn Rape Without Theistic Moral Absolutism? Dan Fincke
- Does Everyone Mean Something Different by the Word Good? Dan Fincke
- How Can We Find External Criteria to Assess Morality's Truth and Authority? Dan Fincke
- Empowerment Ethics (Collection of Links) at Camels With Hammers
- Only Real Gods Agree with William Lane Craig, Rosa Rubicondior
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Listen to AM 950 KTNF on Sunday at 9 a.m. Central to hear Atheists Talk, produced by Minnesota Atheists. Stream live online. Call in to the studio: 952-946-6205, or send an e-mail to radio@mnatheists.org during the live show.
Atheists Talk radio and podcast is a communications service of Minnesota Atheists. Our volunteer producers, hosts, interviewers, and contributors are committed to presenting topics of interest to atheists and humanists. Topics include, but are not limited to, general atheism and humanism, separation of church and state, science, religion, gender, race, culture, and the arts.