Kant's moral argument for the existence of god STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Question 1

what did J Richmond argue for? (strength)

Answer 1

that kant’s moral argument appeals to believers. there is an ultimate goal for humankind, a final purpose. the alternative is bleak!

Question 2

STRENGTH: what idea of kants do many philosophers support?

Answer 2

that there is an objective moral law or at least an underlying moral sense to everything

Question 3

STRENGTH: what did Aquinas write in way four that supports Kant

Answer 3

that god was the source of moral law and wrote it into the design of the word

Question 4

STRENGTH: H.P. Owen quote

Answer 4

‘it is impossible to think of a command without thinking of a commander

Question 5

STRENGTH: what did J.H. Newman argue

Answer 5

that the conscience is the voice of the Lawgiver, ie God

Question 6

WEAKNESS: ‘ought implies can’

Answer 6

it does not mean that something ‘can’ in actual fact eg: john ought to learn french but it does not necessarily follow that he can (B. Davies)

Question 7

WEAKNESS: B.Davies: quote

Answer 7

it need not be God who brings about the highest good- it could equally be a “pantheon of very clever, Kantian minded angels”

Question 8

WEAKNESS: moral behaviour does not have to be…

Answer 8

…rewarded by happiness

Question 9

WEAKNESS: how can a sense of duty be explained

Answer 9

in terms of social conditioning: morality comes from society, education and upbringing

Question 10

WEAKNESS: explain cultural relativism and how it collapses kants argument

Answer 10

different societies have different ideas about what is right and wrong. if there is no universal moral law, there is no summum bonum…kant’s argument collapses