On X (the site formerly known as Twitter), a Christian apologist named Daniel (last name unknown) claims that objective morality proves atheism. On July 10, 2023, he posted a lengthy thread in which he introduces his argument, clarifies his terms, and answers objections. His argument, which is identical to William Lane Craig's most recent moral argument, is as follows:
(1) If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties could not exist.
(2) Objective moral values and duties do exist.
(3) Therefore, God exists.
The argument is valid: if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true. But are the premises true?
Atheists themselves disagree on whether (2) is true. Among atheist philosophers, Nietzsche and J.L. Mackie are probably the two most famous atheists who deny the existence of objective moral values and duties. But there have been countless atheist philosophers who affirm the existence of objective moral values and duties, including G.E. Moore, Erik Wielenberg, Quentin Smith, Wes Morriston, Michael Martin, David Brink, Michael Huemer, and many others. I count myself in the second group and join Daniel in affirming the truth of his second premise.[1]
What, then, about (1)? Contrary to Daniel (and channeling my inner William Lane Craig), I shall defend two basic contentions. First, Daniel has given no good reason to think that (1) is true. Second, there are good reasons to think that (1) is false.
1. No Good Reason to Think (1) Is True
1.1. The Inessential Objection
In Part 2.1 of Daniel's thread, he identifies six moral phenomena which he believes to be necessary conditions for the existence of objective morality: (a) objective values; (b) objective duties; (c) objective moral standard; (d) human dignity; (e) free will; (f) real purpose. I will defend the position that four of these (b, d, e, and f) are inessential for the existence of objective morality.
Let's consider each of these in turn.
(a) Objective Values: Daniel claims that objective values are necessary for objective morality. In his words, "values are what make an action or state of affairs GOOD or BAD." I agree. I'm not aware of any philosopher who has defended the idea that morality itself could be objective if there are no objective (moral) values.
(b) Objective Duties: Although I join Daniel in affirming objective duties, I do not think he adequately defends the claim that they are necessary for objective morality. This can be seen from his own stated definition of "objective morality" in part 4.1 of his thread, where he writes: "in order for morality to be objective, there must be something factually true about moral actions, regardless of opinion." I have no quarrel with his definition. Instead, I would simply point out that, on his own definition of objective morality, objective duties aren't necessary for morality as a whole to be objective. For example, it could be the case that moral values are objective and some version of virtue ethics is true, a version which doesn't involve moral duties at all. To avoid any potential misunderstandings, I'm not a virtue ethicist. Furthermore, I think objective moral duties exist. But the mere fact that such a view is even possible shows that objective duties are not a necessary precondition for objective morality.
(c) Objective Moral Standard: I want to quote Daniel's exposition of this point in its entirety. He writes:
An objective moral standard: Objective morality means that right and wrong exist FACTUALLY, without any importance of human opinion. Even if the ENTIRE WORLD decide rape is good and fine, it would still be wrong, end of story. Without the existence of God, where would an objective moral standard exist which we could hypothetically go to in order to know what actions are actually right or wrong?
-If God does exist then his perfect nature would be the standard, whatever God would do would be the correct answer, so there WOULD exist a perfect objective moral standard if a perfect God exists.
Unfortunately, this does not explain how a "moral standard" differs from moral values and duties. For my part, I interpret the expression "moral standard" to mean "the set of all objective moral values and duties." But that entails that a "moral standard" is not an independent necessary condition for objective morality.[2]
(d) Human Dignity: As with "moral standard," Daniel does not explicitly define what he means by "human dignity." As I interpret him, he seems to equate "human dignity" with the thesis that humans have objective (moral) value. Assuming that is indeed what he means, the next question is this: why should anyone believe that "human dignity" is a necessary precondition for "objective morality"? As with objective duties, I believe that Daniel's own stated definition of "objective morality" proves that human dignity isn't a necessary condition for "objective morality." Daniel has mixed up moral ontology (objective morality) with general systems of ethics (theories like deontology, consequentialism, etc.). It could be the case that objective morality (in Daniel's sense) exists and that there is no human dignity, either because humans exist without dignity or because humans don't exist at all. For example, suppose that God exists and that God created angels who existed for a million years before God created human beings. During that time, God issues commands to the angels. If one believes, as Daniel does, that some version of Divine Command Theory is true, then God's commands to the angels would constitute their moral duties. This situation would satisfy Daniel's definition of "objective morality" and so proves that human dignity is not necessary for objective morality.
(e) Free Will: Although he doesn't explicitly say this, I take it that by "free will" Daniel means libertarian freedom. Why does he claim that free will is necessary for objective morality? He writes:
If free will does not exist then all our choices would be pre-determined. ... For a being to be able to be “obligated,” that being must be able to be aware of the obligation AND be able to RESPOND, or not respond, to the obligation.
But this argument can be easily dispatched by noting that, at best, libertarian freedom is a prerequisite for certain moral concepts, such as moral duties, to be applicable; it is not a prerequisite for objective morality. Furthermore, Daniel evinces no awareness of compatibilism. That position is so named because its defenders believe that determinism is compatible with moral responsibility. In order to show that free will is necessary for objective moral duties, Daniel must first refute compatibilism. He has not done so. Indeed, he has not even tried to do so in his (lengthy) thread.[3]
(f) 'Real' Purpose: According to Daniel, 'real' purpose is necessary for 'real' values to exist. (I've put the word 'real' in scare quotes because the word "purpose" is polysemous and it is question-begging for Daniel to label his view in a way that presupposes it is correct.) He writes:
In order for objective morality to exist, real purpose must exist. For example, we know if our team scores a touchdown that’s good because we know the rules of football and the goal. However, if there are no rules, no purpose, then there can be no “good” thing. Purpose is required for real values like “good” and “bad” to exist.
The word “purpose” is polysemous: it has multiple related meanings. In the functional sense of the word, a biological entity has a purpose if it serves a function. In the agential sense of the word, however, the term “purpose” is used to refer to the goals of an agent. To have a purpose on this definition, it does not suffice to show that a thing serves a function. Instead, one must show that a thing aims or strives towards goals selected by an agent. Notice that atheism is compatible with functional purpose but not agential purpose (for humans or the universe as a whole). Charitably interpreted, then, it seems to me that Daniel wants to argue that agential purpose is a necessary condition of objective morality.
Once again, however, Daniel's ambition is betrayed by his own definition of "objective morality." Recall that Daniel defines "objective morality" as follows:
-in order for morality to be objective, there must be something factually true about moral actions, regardless of opinion. For example, it is true** that it is wrong to torture babies for fun. If morality is not objective then there would be no moral facts, just opinions and preferences.
I agree with Daniel that a deep connection between a
purpose of human life and morality is possible, but I do not agree that it is
necessary. To see this, consider Larry Arnhart’s secular version of Natural Law
Theory, which he calls Darwinian Natural Right. According to Darwinian Natural
Right, the good is the desirable; by "desirable," Arnhart means
the (at least) twenty natural desires that are manifested in diverse ways in
all human societies throughout history. As Arnhart explains, Darwinian
Natural Right, like Natural Law Theory in general, is a system of hypothetical
imperatives:
... natural moral judgment as based on hypothetical imperatives that have a "given/if/then" structure: Given what we know about the nature of human beings and the world in which they live, if we want to pursue happiness while living in society with each other, then we ought to adopt a social structure that conforms to human nature in promoting human happiness in society. So, for example, given what we know about human vulnerability and human propensities to violent aggression, if we want to pursue happiness, peace, and prosperity in our society, then we ought to have laws against murder, rape, assault, and theft. Consequently, the laws against murder, rape, assault, and theft are natural moral laws. I have elaborated this thought in some posts here, here, and here.
Furthermore, Darwinian Natural Right is not based upon a presupposition that human beings were created for a purpose, end, or goal. Therefore, Darwinian Natural Right is an example of an ethical theory which does not presuppose that human beings were created for a purpose. Thus, it is false that 'real' purpose (=objective, agential purpose) is necessary for objective morality. The fact that some things are good for human beings does not presuppose a purpose for the existence of human beings.[4]
Summary: Of Daniel's six moral phenomena, only one (objective moral value) is necessary for objective morality. One item (objective moral standard) is redundant, while the remaining items (objective moral duties, human dignity, free will, and real purpose) are not necessary in order for "objective morality," as he defines it, to exist.
1.2. The Underdetermination Objection
(a) Objective Values: As we saw in the last sub-section, Daniel is charitably interpreted as affirming an agential view of purpose. Similarly, he seems to presuppose this view when defending the idea that theism better accounts for objective values than atheism. He writes:
without God, how can one justify assigning objective values like “good” or “bad” to random actions or states of affairs in a cosmos that just happened to create life by accident? It simply can’t. If there is no God, there is no objective “good,” there is only what IS. It is… what it is. The fact that my grass IS green, says nothing about if it is *GOOD* that my grass happens to be green. Good* implies built in goals, intent, and a way things actually SHOULD be, and this simply cannot exist if there is no builder of everything. Furthermore, values like “goodness” cannot be founded on inanimate objects, but must be rooted in a personal being. An inanimate object like a tree can be neither good nor bad, only personal beings can be good or bad. (italics mine)
(b) Objective Duties: Daniel's claim about objective duties suffers from essentially the same problem as his claim about objective values: theism underdetermines the relationship between God and moral duties. I agree with Daniel that if theism is true, it is possible that the Divine Command Theory (DCT) is true (and so our moral duties are constitutes by God's commands). Theism, however, does not the entail the truth of DCT. In plain English, if theism is true, it is also possible, and no less likely, that DCT is false and some other theory about moral duty is true. What might that theory be? One option is Natural Law Theory (NLT), which says that moral duties are ultimately grounded in facts about human nature and human flourishing. NLT is, in fact, the moral theory favored by the Catholic Church. Although NLT is compatible with theism, it does not require theism. Darwinian Natural Right, mentioned earlier, is a version of NLT and is entirely compatible with atheism.
(c) Objective Moral Standard: As explained earlier, I consider "moral standard" to be redundant with "moral value and duty." Accordingly, the underdetermination objection applies here as well.
Summary: Because theism by itself underdetermines the relationship between God and moral values and duties, theism by itself is not even a potential explanation for objective values. Because theism is not even a potential explanation for objective values, it follows that theism cannot be a "better" explanation for objective values than atheism.
1.3. The Prior Obligations Objection
Philosophers from Plato onwards have repeatedly criticized the suggestion that moral obligations are created by God’s commands. The commands of a legitimate human ruler do not create obligations: if such a ruler tells you to do X, this makes it obligatory for you to do X only if it is already obligatory for you to do whatever the ruler tells you (within the sphere in which X lies). The same applies to God. He can make it obligatory for us to do Y by so commanding only because there is first a general obligation for us to obey him. His commands, therefore, cannot be the source of moral obligation in general: for any obligation that they introduce, there must be a more fundamental obligation that they presuppose. This criticism decisively excludes one way in which it might be thought that God could create morality.
1.4. The Moral Axiology vs. Moral Deontology Objection
1.5. The Moral Ontology vs. Moral Psychology Objection
1.6. The Lack of a Comparative Argument Objection
Daniel's final characteristic of moral obligation is universality. What reason does he give for thinking that theism better explains the universal nature of moral obligation than atheism? He writes, "Moral obligations are universal: God, as a necessary being, is eternal and governs all of creation, so his will extends over all things, times, and places." I agree with this sentence, but I don't understand why Daniel thinks that supports the claim that theism explains the universal nature of moral obligation.
The deeper problem with his implied argument, however, is purely logical. Imagine two competing explanations (H1 and H2) for some some fact F. Now suppose a defender of H1 makes the following argument:
4. H1 explains F.
Therefore, it is probable that:
5. H1 explains F better than H2.
I think everyone would agree that such an argument fails because it has a defective logical structure. The conclusion makes a comparative claim: it says that H1 is better than H2. The argument, however, has only a single premise and that premise says nothing at all about H2's ability to explain F. Maybe H2 explains F just as well as H1. Or maybe H2 is an even better explanation than H1. Because the argument does not contain a premise which addresses these possibilities, the argument does not make the conclusion probable.
This is the problem with what Daniel has written regarding theism, atheism, and the universality of moral obligation. Even if it is (or were?) the case that theism explains the universality of moral obligation, Daniel has given no reason at all to think that theism offers a better explanation than atheism.
Furthermore, moral supervenience is an excellent reason to think that it is false that (theism offers a better explanation than atheism for the universality of moral obligation). To put the point somewhat crudely, by "moral supervenience" I mean the idea that there is no moral difference between two actions or states of affairs without a non-moral difference. Moral supervenience by itself does not favor theism or atheism.
1.7. The False Evidence Objection
Human Dignity: I interpret "dignity" to mean "having moral standing." To say that a person has moral standing is to say that a person can be the beneficiary of a moral duty. For example, a newborn baby has moral standing: I have a moral duty not to torture it for fun even though the baby is unable to understand moral concepts or even understand language.
My own view is that humans have dignity (=moral standing), but not in the way that Daniel seems (?) to think they do. Allow me to explain. I could be wrong, but I think Daniel's view is roughly the following:
(ALL HUMANS) All human beings, regardless of whether they are persons, have moral standing.
(NO NON-HUMAN ANIMALS) No non-human animals, regardless of whether they are persons, have moral standing.
My own view is that both (ALL HUMANS) and (NO NON-HUMAN ANIMALS) are false. What confers moral standing is not species membership, but personhood. Human embryos and humans in permanent vegetative states are not persons; in religious language, we might say "there is no soul attached to such bodies." Furthermore, some non-human animals, including whales, dolphins, elephants, and primates, can also qualify as persons. Like a newborn human baby, they do not understand abstract moral concepts, but they can be harmed from their own internal point of view.
Free Will: Compared to the amount of time I've spent thinking about metaethics, I've spent little time thinking about free will vs. determinism. In other words, I don't have a "studied view" on the matter. With that caveat out of the way, my own view can be summed up with the following two theses:
(POTENTIAL THEISTIC EVIDENCE) If humans have libertarian freedom, that does seem antecedently more likely on the assumption that theism is true than on the assumption that source physicalism (which entails atheism) is true, and so constitutes some evidence favoring theism over atheism.
(LIBERTARIAN INCOHERENCE) I have reluctantly come to believe that the concept of libertarian freedom is probably incoherent. If it is incoherent, then it isn't an item of evidence at all.
'Real' Purpose: My response to Daniel regarding purpose is essentially the same as my response regarding free will. If the kind of purpose he has in mind existed, that would be evidence favoring theism over atheism, but I deny that such a purpose exists and Daniel has given no independent evidence to think otherwise.
2. There Is Good Reason to Think (1) Is False
2.1. A Plantinga-Style Argument for the Consistency of Atheism and Moral Obligation
2.1.1. Three Types of Contradictions
In its simplest form the problem is this: God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists. There seems to be some contradiction between these three propositions, so that if any two of them were true the third would be false. But at the same time all three are essential parts of most theological positions: the theologian, it seems, at once must adhere and cannot consistently adhere to all three.[5]
Consider the following set of propositions: {God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; evil exists}. Mackie claimed that the set is somehow contradictory. But how?