Adams, Robert

Robert Merrihew Adams (1937-) is an American philosopher who has made significant contributions to philosophy of religion, ethics, and metaphysics. Educated at Princeton and Oxford, he taught at UCLA, Yale, and other prestigious institutions. Adams is renowned for his sophisticated defense of theism and development of divine command theory, particularly in "Finite and Infinite Goods" (1999), where he argues that God is the supreme good and source of moral obligation. His modified divine command theory addresses traditional objections by grounding moral obligations in the commands of a loving God. In "The Virtue of Faith" (1987) and other works, Adams explores religious epistemology and the rationality of religious belief. "A Theory of Virtue" (2006) presents a theistic account of virtue ethics, connecting human excellence to the divine nature. His philosophical work demonstrates how rigorous analytic philosophy can illuminate traditional theological concepts.