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Ethics Without God by Kai Nielsen Book review by Wm. B. Lindley
I found this to be a more difficult book than I had anticipated. After all, Truth Seeker preaches ethics without God, and I can enjoy heavy books. I think the problem is its presentation and how I would use the ideas in dialogue with believers. Nielsen presents in full some strong arguments on the believer's side - sophisticated, modern arguments (as well as old ones) that could easily defeat a village atheist. He then refutes them, tightly and unyieldingly, playing the bulldog and showing no tolerance for what he considers bad thinking. Some of his best refutations are by reference, so that the book alone doesn't do the whole job. What's in the book? The first chapter, "Keeping the Wolf at Bay", tackles the "atheists are bad people" slander, disposing of it neatly. It also lays waste the natural law doctrine, both as expressed by Thomas Aquinas and as developed recently by William Frankena. (Those of us who believe in natural rights might feel uneasy here.) The second chapter, "Morality and the Will of God," discusses the divine command theory, and claims that people must already have an idea of the good before they can claim that either God or what he commands us to do is good. The argument here is powerful and, as I say above, difficult. Other chapters explore the weirdness of religious concepts of happiness; examine existentialist angst; consider several dilemmas in the search for absolute morality. Chapter 7 discusses moral rationalism, based on Hobbes and developed by Kurt Baier, a contemporary philosopher, contrasting it with the more skeptical approach of Hume, which Nielsen favors. Then follows a very good chapter on death and the "meaning of life", where meaning here is equated with worthwhileness. The book closes with Neilsen's own position, which is frankly egalitarian, with a rather large list of "rights." This is perhaps the most controversial part. The chapter includes brief discussions on justice, free will, duties, and situational morality. Prometheus Books, ©1990, paperback, 207 pages, $17.95. 59 John Glenn Drive, Buffalo, New York 14228-2197.
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