Can Ethics Exist Without God? A Thomistic Critique of James Sterba's Axiomatic Morality
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3165947 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joseph Brian Huffling (0000-0001-8730-9681, Faith Evangelical College & Seminary, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1058 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-16 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel16081058 |
| OpenAlex | W4413292479 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
This essay explores the question: can we have an objective ethics without God? This question is raised by James Sterba, who argues in the affirmative. As an atheistic ethicist, Sterba is motivated to maintain an objective morality that is not based in theism and that can withstand the problems with Darwinism. Sterba examines what he sees as one of the most popular theistic attempts to ground human morality, viz., divine command theory. In rejecting both divine command theory and theism, Sterba offers what he believes can offer objective morality: a basic moral norm that all people should adhere to. This article examines Sterba's criticism of divine command theory along with his own efforts at establishing an objective morality in what he considers a universal abstract principle. In the end, this article argues that Sterba's axiomatic principle is unclear as to its ontological foundation as well as its causal efficacy in attempting to obligate objective human ethics. It will be argued that Sterba is correct about human nature being the locus of morality, but that atheism fails at providing human teleology to account for such morality
Axiom · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Morality · Karl Barth and Christian Theology · Mathematics · Medieval Philosophy and Theology · Philosophy · Theology and Philosophy of Evil
| Highly cited | No |
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