Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  • Cited by 35
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
June 2012
Print publication year:
2005
Online ISBN:
9781139165433

Book description

Suppose there is no God. This might imply that human life is meaningless, that there are no moral obligations and hence people can do whatever they want, and that the notions of virtue and vice and good and evil have no place. Erik J. Wielenberg believes this view to be mistaken and in this book he explains why. He argues that even if God does not exist, human life can have meaning, we do have moral obligations, and virtue is possible. Naturally, the author sees virtue in a Godless universe as different from virtue in a Christian universe, and he develops naturalistic accounts of humility, charity, and hope. The moral landscape in a Godless universe is different from the moral landscape in a Christian universe, but it does indeed exist. Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe is a tour of some of the central landmarks of this under-explored territory.

Reviews

'Wielenberg has written a worthwhile book, and he has done this with verve. His arguments are often provocative. It is his way to make people reflect on what he writes.'

Source: Ethical Perspectives

'… the book has much to recommend it and there are moments when it is quite provocative … there is plenty in this book to appeal to atheists, theists, and agnostics alike. It is both readable and rewarding; many interesting questions are raised, and at times novel and compelling solutions to old chestnuts are proposed … the author keeps things lively by inserting creative stories, passages from literature, and a breadth of commentaries from other thinkers who have wrestled with the issues he addreses. Anyone interested in the relationship between God, value, and virtue would benefit from adding this book to their collection.'

Source: International Journal for Philiosophy of Religion

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
×

Contents

References
References
Adams, Robert. 1999. Finite and infinite goods. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Aquinas, Thomas. 1984. Treatise on the virtues. Trans. J. A. Oesterle. Notre Dame: Univ. of Notre Dame Press
Aristotle. 1962. Nicomachean ethics. Trans. M. Ostwald. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Armstrong, Karen. 1993. A history of God. New York: Ballantine Books
Augustine. 1993. Confessions. Trans. F. J. Sheed. Indianapolis: Hackett
Aurelius, Marcus. 1805. Meditations. Trans. J. Collier. London: Walter Scott
Barnes, Jonathan. 1979. The presocratic philosophers: Volume I Thales to Zeno. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
Baron, Marcia. 1984. The alleged moral repugnance of acting from duty. Journal of Philosophy 81: 197–220
Behe, Michael. 1996. Darwin's black box. New York: Touchstone
Blackburn, Simon. 1998. Ruling passions. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Boethius. 1969. The consolation of philosophy. Trans. V. E. Watts. New York: Penguin
Bradley, Ben. 1998. Extrinsic value. Philosophical Studies 91: 109–26
Brody, Baruch. 1974. Morality and Religion Reconsidered. In Readings in the Philosophy of Religion, ed. B. Brody. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Burgess, Anthony. 1986. A Clockwork Orange. New York: W. W. Norton & Company
Cameron, James, dir. 1984. The Terminator. Film. MGM/UA Studios
Camus, Albert. 1946. The stranger. Trans. S. Gilbert. New York: Random House
Chisholm, Roderick. 1973. The problem of the criterion. Milwaukee: Marquette Univ. Press
Conrad, Joseph. 1976. The heart of darkness. New York: Penguin Books
Cottingham, John. 2003. On the meaning of life. New York: Routledge
Craig, William Lane. 1996. “The Indispensability of Theological Meta-ethical Foundations for Morality,” home.apu.edu/~CTRF/papers/1996_papers/craig.html (accessed March 26, 2004)
Craig, William Lane. 2004. “The Absurdity of Life Without God,” hisdefense.org/audio/wc_audio.html (accessed March 26, 2004)
Cudworth, Ralph. 1976. A treatise concerning eternal and immutable morality. New York: Garland
Damasio, Antonio. 2003. Looking for Spinoza: Joy, sorrow, and the feeling brain. Orlando, FL: Harcourt
Darwall, Stephen. 1999. “Valuing Activity.” In Human Flourishing, eds. E. F. Paul, F. D. Miller, and J. Paul. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Dawkins, Richard. 1996. The blind watchmaker. New York: W. W. Norton & Company
Descartes, Rene. 1960. Discourse on method and meditations. Trans. L. J. Lafleur. New York: Macmillan
Doris, John. 2002. Lack of character. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. 1984. The Brothers Karamazov. Trans. K. Mochulski. New York: Bantam
Draper, Paul. 1989. Pain and pleasure: An evidential problem for theists. NOUS 23: 331–50
Driver, Julia. 2001. Uneasy virtue. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Edwards, Paul. 2000. “The Meaning and Value of Life.” In The Meaning of Life, ed. E. D. Klemke, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Elster, Jon. 2000. Ulysses unbound. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Epicurus. 1964. Letters, principal doctrines, and Vatican sayings. New York: Macmillan
Feldman, Fred. 1992. Confrontations with the reaper. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Flanagan, Owen. 2002. The problem of the soul. New York: Basic Books
Frank, Robert. 1988. Passions within reason. New York: W. W. Norton
Graham, Gordon. 2001. Evil and Christian ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Hare, John. 1996. The moral gap. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Hare, John. 2001. God's call. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Henson, Richard. 1979. What Kant might have said: Moral worth and the overdetermination of dutiful action. Philosophical Review 88: 39–54
Herman, Barbara. 1981. On the value of acting from the motive of duty. Philosophical Review 90: 359–82
Hick, John. 1966. Evil and the God of love. New York: Macmillan
Hume, David. 1998a. Dialogues concerning natural religion, 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett
Hume, David. 1998b. “Of Miracles,” in Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett
Hume, David. 1998c. An enquiry concerning the principles of morals. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Hurka, Thomas. 1998. Two kinds of organic unity. Journal of Ethics 2:4: 299–320
Huxley, Aldous. 1998. Brave new world. New York: HarperCollins
Jonze, Spike. 2002. Adaptation. Film. Columbia Pictures
Joy, Bill. 2003. “Why the Future Doesn't Need Us,” in Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy, and Religion in the Matrix, ed. G. Yeffeth. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books
Juergensmeyer, Mark. 2000. Terror in the mind of God. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press
Kagan, Shelly. 1998. Rethinking intrinsic value. Journal of Ethics 2:4: 277–97
Kant, Immanuel. 1930. Lectures on ethics. Trans. L. Infield. Indianapolis: Hackett
Kant, Immanuel. 1960. Religion within the limits of reason alone. Trans. T. M. Greene and H. H. Hudson. New York: Harper & Row
Kant, Immanuel. 1964. Groundwork of the metaphysic of morals. Trans. H. J. Paton. New York: Torchbook
Kant, Immanuel. 1996. The metaphysics of morals. Trans. M. Gregor. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Kant, Immanuel. 1997. Critique of practical reason. Trans. M. Gregor. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Kekes, John. 1990. Facing evil. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
King, Jr., Martin Luther. 1998. The autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., ed. C. Carson. New York: Warner Books
Kohn, Alfie. 1986. No Contest: The case against competition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Kraut, Richard. 1989. Aristotle on the human good. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
Kupfer, Joseph. 2003. The moral perspective of humility. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 84: 249–69
Kurtz, Paul. 1983a. “The Meaning of Life,” in In Defense of Secular Humanism. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books
Kurtz, Paul. 1983b. “Toward a Catholic/Humanist Dialogue,” in In Defense of Secular Humanism
Kurtz, Paul. 1983c. “Will Humanism Replace Theism?” in In Defense of Secular Humanism
LeDoux, Joseph. 1996. The emotional brain. New York: Touchstone
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm. 1985. Theodicy. Trans. E. M. Huggard. La Salle, IL: Open Court
Leslie, John. 1989. Universes. New York: Routledge
Lewis, Clive Staples. 1955. Surprised by joy: The shape of my early life. New York: Harcourt
Lewis, Clive Staples. 1996. The screwtape letters. New York: Simon & Schuster
Lewis, Clive Staples. 2001a. A grief observed. New York: HarperCollins
Lewis, Clive Staples. 2001b. Mere Christianity. New York: HarperCollins
Lewis, Clive Staples. 2001c. Miracles. New York: HarperCollins
Lewis, Clive Staples. 2001d. The problem of pain. New York: HarperCollins
MacIntyre, Alasdair. 1998. A short history of ethics, 2nd ed. Notre Dame: Univ. of Notre Dame Press
Mackie, John. 1992. “Evil and Omnipotence,” in The Problem of Evil: Selected Readings, ed. M. L. Peterson. Notre Dame: Univ. of Notre Dame Press
Martin, Michael. 2002. Atheism, morality, and meaning. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books
Mavrodes, George. 1993. “Religion and the Queerness of Morality,” in Moral Philosophy: A Reader, ed. L. Pojman. Indianapolis: Hackett
Mayr, Ernst. 2001. What evolution is. New York: Basic Books
Metz, Thaddeus. 2000. Could God's purpose be the source of life's meaning?Religious Studies 36: 293–313
Mill, John Stuart. 1979. Utilitarianism. Indianapolis: Hackett
Mill, John Stuart. 1998. “Utility of Religion,” in Three Essays on Religion. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books
Miller, Christian. 2003. Social psychology and virtue ethics. Journal of Ethics 7: 365–92
Milton, John. 1956. Paradise lost. Chicago: The Great Books Foundation
Montaigne, de, Michel. 1966. “That To Philosophize Is To Learn To Die,” in Essays. Trans. D. M. Frame. Chicago: The Great Books Foundation
Moore, George Edward. 1903. Principia ethica. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Morris, Thomas. 2000. Our idea of God. Notre Dame: Univ. of Notre Dame Press
Mossner, Ernest Campbell. 1943. The forgotten Hume. New York: Columbia Univ. Press
Mouw, Richard. 1996. The God who commands. Notre Dame: Univ. of Notre Dame Press
Murphy, Mark. 1998. Divine command, divine will, and moral obligation. Faith and Philosophy 15: 3–27
Nagel, Thomas. 1979. Mortal questions. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Neu, Jerome. 1999. “Pride and Identity,” in Wicked Pleasures, ed. R. Solomon. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield
Newberg, Andrew., Eugene D'Aquili, and Vince Rause. 2001. Why God won't go away: Brain science and the biology of belief. New York: Ballantine
Nicholi, Jr., Armand. 2002. The question of God. New York: Free Press
Nielsen, Kai. 1990. Ethics without God, rev. ed. New York: Prometheus Books
Nisbett, Richard E., and Lee Ross. 1980. Human inference: Strategies and shortcomings of social judgment. Englewood Cliffs., NJ: Prentice Hall
Nisbett, Richard E., and Wilson, Timothy D.. 1977. “Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes.” Psychological Review 84: 231–59
Nozick, Robert. 1977. Anarchy, state, and utopia. New York: Basic Books
Nucci, Larry. 2001. Education in the moral domain. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Pascal, Blaise. 1995. Pensees and other writings. Trans. H. Levi. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Pennock, Robert. 1999. Tower of Babel. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Pinker, Steven. 2002. The blank slate: The modern denial of human nature. New York: Penguin Putnam
Plantinga, Alvin. 1974. The nature of necessity. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Plantinga, Alvin. 1998. “The Free Will Defense,” in The Analytic Theist: An Alvin Plantinga Reader, ed. J. F. Sennett. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Plantinga, Alvin. 2000. Warranted Christian belief. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Plato. 1948. Euthyphro, apology, crito. Trans. F. J. Church. New York: Macmillan
Plato. 1977. Phaedo. Trans. G. M. A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett
Plato. 1981. Meno, 2nd ed. Trans. G. M. A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett
Plato. 1992. Republic. Trans. G. M. A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett
Plato. 1993. Philebus. Trans. D. Frede. Indianapolis: Hackett
Plato. 2000. Timaeus. Trans. D. J. Zeyl. Indianapolis: Hackett
Plutarch. 1960. The rise and fall of Athens: Nine Greek lives. Trans. I. Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin Books
Quinn, Philip. 1998. “The Primacy of God's Will in Christian Ethics,” in Christian Theism and Moral Philosophy. Macon, GA: Mercer Univ. Press
Ratzsch, Del. 2001. Nature, design, and science. New York: SUNY Press
Record, Jeffrey. 2003. “Bounding the Global War on Terrorism.” www.carlisle.army.mil/ssi/pubs/2003/bounding/bounding.pdf (accessed March 26, 2004)
Ring, Merrill. 2000. Beginning with the Pre-Socratics, 2nd ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company
Russell, Bertrand. 1925. What I believe. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company
Russell, Bertrand. 1957a. “A Free Man's Worship,” in Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects, ed. P. Edwards. New York: Simon & Schuster
Russell, Bertrand. 1957b. “Can Religion Cure Our Troubles?” in Why I Am Not a Christian
Russell, Bertrand. 1957c. “The New Generation,” in Why I Am Not a Christian
Russell, Bertrand. 1957d. “What I Believe,” in Why I Am Not a Christian
Russell, Bertrand. 1957e. “Why I Am Not a Christian,” in Why I Am Not a Christian
Sade, de, Marquis. 1992. The misfortunes of virtue and other early tales. Trans. D. Coward. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Sapolsky, Robert. 1998. “Circling the Blanket for God,” in The Trouble with Testosterone. New York: Touchstone
Sherman, Nancy. 1997. Making a necessity of virtue. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press
Shyamalan, M. Night., dir. 2002. Signs. Film. Touchstone Pictures
Singer, Peter. 1995. How are we to live? Ethics in an age of self-interest. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books
Smilansky, Saul. 2003. Free will and the mystery of modesty. American Philosophical Quarterly 40: 105–17
Strobel, Lee. 1998. The case for Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Sumption, Jonathan. 1978. The Albigensian crusade. London: Faber and Faber
Swinburne, Richard. 1981. “Duty and the Will of God,” in Divine Commands and Morality, ed. P. Helm. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Taylor, Richard. 2000. Good and Evil. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books
Tolstoy, Leo. 2000. “My Confession,” in The Meaning of Life, ed. E. D. Klemke, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
Tolstoy, Leo. 1981. The death of Ivan Ilyich. Trans. L. Solotaroff. New York: Bantam Books
van Inwagen, Peter. 1993. Metaphysics. Boulder, CO: Westview Press
Wielenberg, Erik. 2002. Pleasure, pain, and moral character and development. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 83: 282–99
Wielenberg, Erik. 2004. Egoism and eudaimonia-maximization in the Nicomachean ethics. Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 26: 277–95
Wierenga, Edward. 1983. “A defensible divine command theory.” NOUS 17: 387–408
Wolf, Susan. 2003. “The Meanings of Lives.” www.law.nyu.edu/clppt/program2003/readings/wolf.pdf (accessed March 26, 2004)
Wright, Robert. 1995. The moral animal: Evolutionary psychology and everyday life. New York: Vintage Books
Wurmbrand, Richard. 1967. Tortured for Christ. London: Hodder & Stoughton
Zagzebski, Linda. 1990. “What If the Impossible Had Been Actual?” in Christian Theism and the Problems of Philosophy, ed. M. Beatty. Notre Dame: Univ. of Notre Dame Press
Zinn, Howard. 1999. A people's history of the United States. New York: HarperCollins

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.