Preview

Cyclical Vibrations and the Moral Universe

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2486 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cyclical Vibrations and the Moral Universe
Cyclical Vibrations & The Moral Universe
Tandi E. Marth
PHI208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning
Instructor F. Escobar
01.28.2013

Atheism is thought to be an immoral practice by many a religious folk. “Rational atheism values the truths of science and the power of reason, but the principle of freedom stands above both science and religion” (Shermer, 2007). Humanity is bound by the control of organized and man-made religion, and this is a fact that remains present throughout the history of civilization. Countless wars, confrontations, hostilities and bloodshed in historical times can be rerouted or directly attributed to the acquisition of power and control by the region’s governing religion. True religion should be one based on human morals and ethics, and should be upheld for the good of humanity; not for an omniscient being that isn’t proven to even exist.
A pure basis in scientific knowledge, fact, and faith is the center of atheism. Atheism literally means a disbelief in the existence of a deity (Merriam-Webster, 2013). Simply because the belief that humans were not created from a divine god or omniscient being does not imply that atheists are without faith or morality; in fact, many atheists believe in a higher power called the Universe, and this Universe with which we were created from has many moral laws for existence, success, humility, compassion, willingness, and morality in human life. Is something just and moral because a religious God says it is so, or does a religious God impose just morals specifically because they are fundamentally ethical and honorable? There are many human religions that encompass moral values, but many of them also offer the forgiveness of a deity if they do wrong against these moral values. An exemplary religion of this devotion is Christianity, which imposes Ten Commandments of human morality, and these commandments are mostly virtuous principles to abide. The falter in this belief system is that if one should disobey



References: Alexander, D. (2012). Editorial -- Science, Religion and Atheism. Science & Christian Belief, 24(2), 98. Byrnes, S. (2006). 'When it comes to facts, and explanations of facts, science is the only game in town '. New Statesman, 135(4787), 28-30. Bellitto, C. (2009). Pateos library. Retrieved from http://www.patheos.com/Library/Roman-Catholicism/Historical-Development/Exploration-Conquest-Empire-(incl-violence-persecution).html Gaillardetz, R. G. (2008, May 05). Catholicism and the new atheism. America, 198, 12-15. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/209703793?accountid=32521 Malesic, J. (2007). Illusion and offense in Philosophical Fragments: Kierkegaard’s inversion of Feuerbach’s critique of Christianity. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 62(1), 43-55. Doi: 10.1007/s11153-007-9127-8 Merriam-Webster Dictionary Mosser, K. (2010). A concise introduction to philosophy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Shermer, M. (2007, September). Rational Atheism. Scientific American. pp. 44-46.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Divine Command Theory

    • 1962 Words
    • 8 Pages

    People are extremely motivated by self-interest, even as societies have evolved and grown larger. While the more intertwined societies did lead to a greater need for cooperation in order to live as peacefully as possible, the need to follow the rules of that society can still be ignored when self-interests are present. The need to live by a set of moral rules is well explained by connecting God and morality. As God holds a person accountable, following the moral rules is now is that person’s interest. So even while the person may act according to society, the actions are still explained by the incentives and sanctions placed by God with the promise of Heaven and the threat of Hell, respectively. However, the Divine Command Theory falls short by basing morality solely on God’s commands. Morality then seems subject to God’s whims, which makes morality arbitrary. The opposing view counters strongly with the existence of morals within atheists. For if morals are based only on God’s will, then atheists must be godless brutes lacking any semblance to a moral compass. The morality of atheists is clearly evident, yet the argument failed to establish a reason for morals other acknowledging damage done to the…

    • 1962 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Believing in a spiritual entity or a supernatural supreme being can play a role in one’s moral beliefs, but it is not necessary. The argument will start with breaking down what it is to be moral with the definition of moral, which is “of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior,” (ethically speaking) “conforming to a standard of right behavior.” (Merriam-Webster, 2011) With that in mind now, one can be moral and not believe in GOD, because it is up to the person to choose to be moral, hence “To be, or not to be…” This argument will consist of a brief history in a few religions, church and state, moral education, ethics, and Plato 's and Aristotle 's take on living morally. Again, believing in God is not necessarily needed for one to be moral; all that is needed is good ethics, belief in oneself, and knowledge.…

    • 2355 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another issue with any divine command morality theory is that we have no confirmation that there even is the essential God, a great deal less which God's commands are the commands of that God. There are many distinctive moral frameworks credited to God. This is so even inside of the umbrella of Christian belief in a higher power; more so when we consider different belief…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    APOL 104 Worldview

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages

    4. The question of morality -What is meant by right and wrong? The Christian worldview cites that morality is derived from the person of God. Specifically God provided mankind with law to establish a baseline for morality (Exodus 20). Morality was not left for man to determine, but was established by God. Mankind has rejected God’s law of morality and so this is in need of salvation from God’s judgment (Romans 3:23)…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    The Euthyphro Dilemma

    • 2677 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Religion and morality have been seen as inseparable since the advent of Western thought (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/religion-morality/) - religion's fundamental characters being frequently ethical in nature, and morality often viewed as a derivative of religion. However, the relationship is not as clear cut as many people would like you to believe. A very old and important dilemma facing this relationship is the Euthyphro dilemma, discussed in Plato’s Euthyphro. In it, Socrates and Euthyphro argue about the nature of morality outside of a court. Socrates is being prosecuted for impiety, while Euthyphro is charging his father with murder. Although charging your father, even for murder, is frowned upon in Ancient Greek culture, Euthyphro justifies it by claiming that this is similar to what the Gods have been reported to have done, and therefore it is alright. After multiple definitions of holiness and piety, Socrates brings up the Euthyphro dilemma , which when adapted to a monotheistic context where God is an all-powerful, all-knowing being (which I will be using), goes:…

    • 2677 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Apol 104 Worldview

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Question of Morality is, what is right or wrong based upon God’s scripture in the biblical worldview? Psalm 4, tells us “lift up the light of your countenance upon us, Lord” implying that what is good and bad will be impressed upon us. Genesis 3, shares with us Adam’s poor moral behavior of eating the forbidden fruit.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Question of Morality is answered by the Hinduism Worldview as "that everything is god and god is everything, morality and ethics(in a practical sense) are how one should act toward itself" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). Hindu's believe you have to look within to figure out if something is moral or unmoral. It's also believed "Man's actions will return to him or her(karma), and it is up to the individual to determine what those actions should be and how they should be carried out" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011).…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    REL 212 Assignment 2

    • 2258 Words
    • 10 Pages

    When I began this study, I did not know much about the Atheism. The only thing I knew was that Atheists do not believe in God. Because I had little insight into Atheism and did not have any real misconceptions, I watched a web cast and interviewed friends who were both Atheist and non-Atheist. “Atheism is the lack of belief in a deity, which implies that nothing exists but natural phenomena (matter), that thought is a property or function of…

    • 2258 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It seems weird that I didn’t realize it before but there is no such thing as a “fact” in science, in the way that the rest of the world views the word fact. For instance nothing can be proven in science. There is always a chance that is it wrong. The world views the word fact as something that cannot be wrong, that it is an irrefutable claim. Where as in science the word fact is simply an observation that has been made. The problem with this I realized is that the word fact is interpreted differently by the public compared to the way scientists use is. Creating a rift in the way the science world is proceeded and…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Kierkegaard’s whole career might well be considered a self-conscious revolt against abstract thought and attempt on his part to live up to Feuerbach’s admonition: “Do…

    • 2829 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In this essay, I will try to summarize, analyze and discuss several pages of Søren Kierkegaard’s Training in Christianity. I will try to focus on his approach to sacred history, a general Christian history and Christianity, which he discusses in this work in relation to faith in God. In other parts of this essay I will attempt also to relate these pages of his work to some key ideas of Kierkegaard’s theology and philosophy and support this with some concrete quotations from the text. In the end I will very briefly compare different philosophies of Hegel and Kierkegaard and try to relate Kierkegaard’s work to a few topics, which were discussed in modernity.…

    • 2576 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Atheism

    • 359 Words
    • 1 Page

    Atheists believe that values, including morality, come from people like themselves; the values and morality are the same whether one believes in gods or not. The moralities found in scriptures of various religions are remarkably similar, even if the theology is very different. The common threads of morality in these different theologies are the people who wrote them. Atheists, just like any of those people, share the same sense of morality. The morality of atheists is in a sense more noble by definition than the morality of theists. While theists believe that god will punish them for immoral acts and reward them for moral acts, atheists have no motivation to be moral other than their own innate sense of morality. It is morality for its own sake, not out of fear for punishment or desire for reward.…

    • 359 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prior to God’s commands, nothing was right or wrong. Morality simply did not exist. The first option says that God commands actions because they are right. This implies that God did not invent morality, but rather recognized an existing moral law and then commanded us to obey it. But God created everything. Therefore, he created morality. So, this makes the first option impossible.…

    • 1296 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Christopher Hitchens, a British-American writer and journalist once said, “Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it” (Quotes About). Human decency comes from the morals that people learn. There are good and bad morals, but human decency can only be established through good morals. One of the most influential yet controversial ways morals can be learned is through religion. Other ways it could be learned is through older generations, life experiences, and through culture. Religion can cause a lot of difficulties when it comes down to making the right decisions. It should not interfere with one’s morals and ethics. Religion is not needed in a person’s life to teach good morals.…

    • 1797 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics