condensed: death and the afterlife

new testament foundations jesus' resurrection and implications the resurrection was important to the nt writers but there is no explanation of the afterlife. they agree on three things: jesus' death and resurrection mark the foundation of christianityjesus' resurrection was a moment of hope over despairgod acted in a mysterious and spectacular way these ideas have …

condensed: aquinas and natural law

intro natural law has been misunderstood as solely catholic but anglican thinkers richard hooker and william temple adopted these ideas. it predates christianity and does not directly reference scripture so it doesn't necessarily need faith. cicero wrote in the republica that '[natural] law is right reason in agreement with nature'. it appeals to us as …

condensed: christian moral principles

theonomous christian ethics bible as only authority all scripture is inspired by God, and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.2 timothy 3:16 a quote often use by biblicists, it supports the bible being inspired by god and being the only authority for moral instruction. if god is the author, …

condensed: situation ethics

intro associated with joseph fletcher, whose book on the subject was controversial among ethicists and philosophers. aristotle writes in 'NicomacheanEthics' that right judgement requires paying attention to the circumstance. fletcher and william temple “there is only one ultimate and invariable duty...love thy neighbour as thyself"temple fletcher studied temple's work, which was personalist and love-centred. he …

condensed: the ontological argument

intro written as an intra-faith argument for men to solidify faith. there are limitations on a posteriori arguments because we cannot trust our senses. for aquinas god is unknowable. the ontological argument tries to understand god using only reason, as an a priori argument. the claim is that god, by definition, exists. but can we …

condensed: conscience

intro the relationship between mind and action is complex. sometimes our considerations are moral, other times prudential, and even both. we make conclusions about what actions to take, then need to decide where and when. the past and emotion influence us. this is our conscience. the word means 'with knowledge'. thomas aquinas' views the most …

condensed: meta ethics

intro language is essential for humans. our language is mostly easy to understand, but not always. in religious language there is so much to the word 'omnipotent' or 'god' that make them very difficult to understand. the same level of difficulty presents itself to ethical language. what is 'good'? defining ethical terms 'good' has many …

condensed: RL, wittgenstein and language games

introduction wittgenstein barely wrote about religion but his work was developed. he said once: is speech essential for religion? i can very well imagine a religion in which there are no doctrines and hence nothing is said. his idea of silence here does not mean he thinks religious statements are meaningless. language games he turned …

condensed: existence of god arguments from observation

intro people have always tried to prove beyond doubt that god exists. but god is not human or even physical. we don't know what we're asking when we ask if god is real. you can try and find out by reason, or through the world. this can be done teleologically, by design, or cosmologically, by …

condensed: utilitarianism

intro we are torn between hurting someones feelings and telling the truth. we feel dissatisfied either choice. untilitarianism's aim is to make these complex choices simple. jeremy bentham considered the father of modern utilitarianism. a man of the enlightenment he believed we were hedonists. we seek to maximise pleasure and minimise pain. he sought to …