Question To many people, belief in God and belief in universal moral values is axiomatic. In fact, many believe that if God does not exist, then everything is morally permissible. But note that almost everyone believes that at least some things are morally impermissible; the best example might be raping a child. And if raping a child is not morally permissible, then not everything is morally permissible. Therefore, it seems to follow that God does indeed exist. This would be the argument form MT and it would be sounds correct? But why?

Accepted:
December 2, 2010

Comments

great question, and much ink has been spilled in addressing it! ... I can't speak for hte 'many people who believe that ...', but it does seem to me that you must argue rather vigorously to support the claim that without God everything is permissible -- indeed it seems more obvious to me that whatever insights we DO have into morality we glean pretty much w/o reference to God whatsoever, and so the burden of proof is on those who think morality requires some grounding in God ... (for excellent thinkers on that question, see of course Kant and more recently George Mavrodes and also Robert Adams -- I summarize some of their ideas in my recent book "The God Question") -- Moreover, sadly, I'm not sure I accept the second premise of your question either -- there have been many cultures which not only accept but have actively supported pedophilia in its various forms (and there is a vibrant subculture alive in the US to this very day), so what you're calling "raping a child" they would indeed defend as morally acceptable -- So what I would want to pursue next, with respect to your question, is this: exactly WHAT is the alleged connection between God and morality, and are there REALLY any genuine, substantive, universally held moral principles?

best,