Ethics, Theism, and Naturalism

Theists often assert that God or some transcendent authority is required in order to justify objective moral claims. In this talk, James Fodor considers this claim in the light of contemporary philosophical exploration of the foundations of morality. He will first present a naturalistic grounding for moral obligations in terms of promotion of valuable ends, and identify morally valuable ends with sentient wellbeing. James will then contrast this account with traditional theistic accounts of morality, arguing that the latter face substantial problems that are not encountered by the naturalist. He will conclude with a summary of the debate and reflections on why many find it so intuitive that morality requires a transcendent foundation.