Morality, autonomy and God

Introduction

Part I. From Naturalism to Theism

1. Being a Moral Agent

Some senses of moral autonomy

The Ionian enchantment

The Platonic alternative

Just discernment and evaluative commitment

2. Reason and Sentiment: A Phantom Battle?

Reason and desire

The rationalist case

Hume on virtue

Doing the reasonable thing

Being reasonable about feelings

An uneasy truce

3. Hypothetical and Categorical Morality

Virtue and human flourishing

Distinctive human goods

Love of the Good

4. Naturalism and Its Discontents

Enriched naturalism

Basic goods and human flourishing

The pursuit of happiness

Ideals of universal fulfilment

The idea of the Good

Perceiving value

5. Natural Law

Natural law and divine law

Natural and personalist purposes

The Enlightenment Project

Quasi- and real realism

6. The Objectivity of the Good

The naturalistic fallacy

Moore and Platonism

Knowing the Good

The demand of the ideal

Contemplating the Good

The world viewed sub specie aeternitatis

Morality and purpose

Art and beauty

7. Towards Theistic Morality

From the Platonic Good to a personal God

A morally conditioned God

The divine-command theory

Divine perfection

A concept of God

Part II. An Outline of a Theistic Morality

8. Moral Commitment and Moral Purpose

Kant's notion of creative rational will

The moral purpose: happiness in accordance with virtue

The summum bonum

A Kantian 'moral argument'

9. Kant, Evil, and Redemption

Kant and autonomy

Radical evil

The limits of autonomy

10. The Religion of Humanity

God and human well-being

God and human rights

Justice and desert

The virtues and God

11. The Anti-Moralists

Nietzsche and the will to power

Affirming life

12. The Option for the Poor

Marx and liberation

13. Sartre and Authentic Life

'Existence precedes essence'

Choosing for all humanity

Morality and meaning

Authenticity and religion

14. Philosophical Idealism and Religion

Well-being and purpose

Absolute Idealism

Personal Idealism

The end of morality

Morality and world religions

The beatific vision

15. Some Christian Doctrines

Sin and atonement

A theistic morality

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index of Names

Index of Subjects