Douglas Groothuis

Defending Christian Faith, October 12, 2004

 

 

GOD AND MORAL MEANING

part 1

 

 

I.          The Meaning of Life and Morality

 

A.        Meaning and suicide (Albert Camus)

 

B.         Ultimate questions of meaning, significance, value

 

C.        Aldous Huxley’s revealing confession (Os Guinness, The Journey, 214 – 15)

 

 

II.        The Meaning of Moral Statements

 

A.        Meta-ethics: the justification of moral statements within a worldview

 

B.         Noncognitive theories

 

1.         Emotivism:  Bo, Hurray theory

 

2.         Imperativalism:  Just do it

 

C.        Cognitive theories of meta-ethics

 

1.         Private subjectivism

 

2.         Cultural relativism

 

D.        Objectivist theories

 

1.         Ethical naturalism

 

2.         Ethical non-naturalism

 

 

III.       Four Defective Views of Meaning and Morality

 

A.        Four naturalist views

 

1.         Temporal purpose and optimistic humanism

 

·        Secular humanist version:  Paul Kurtz