God and Morality: Four Views

This volume presents four competing perspectives on the relationship between God and morality, a perennial question in philosophy of religion that has gained renewed attention in contemporary analytic philosophy. J.P. Moreland assembles leading philosophers to defend distinct positions: Keith Yandell argues for a theistic grounding of morality, Mark Linville presents a moral argument for God's existence, Evan Fales defends secular moral realism, and Michael Ruse advocates evolutionary moral anti-realism.

The collection exemplifies the dialogical approach characteristic of recent analytic philosophy, where proponents of different views directly engage one another's arguments. Each contributor presents their position in detail before responding to objections raised by the others. This format illuminates both the strengths and vulnerabilities of each stance while demonstrating how sophisticated contemporary treatments of the God-morality relationship have become.

Yandell and Linville represent variations on the traditional view that morality depends on God. Yandell argues that objective moral values and duties require a divine foundation, developing a metaphysical argument that moral properties cannot exist as brute facts but need grounding in a necessarily existing moral agent. Linville advances an epistemological version, contending that evolutionary naturalism cannot adequately explain moral knowledge, whereas theism provides the necessary resources for moral epistemology.

The secular contributors offer contrasting alternatives. Fales maintains that objective morality exists independently of God, defending a naturalistic moral realism that locates moral facts in natural properties accessible through empirical investigation. Ruse takes a more radical position, arguing that evolution undermines belief in objective morality altogether, leaving us with useful moral illusions rather than moral truths.

The volume's significance lies in its comprehensive treatment of positions that often talk past one another in isolated philosophical camps. By bringing these views into direct conversation, Moreland's collection reveals precisely where the fundamental disagreements lie - whether in metaphysics, epistemology, or meta-ethics. The work demonstrates that the moral argument for God's existence remains philosophically viable while facing serious challenges from both moral naturalism and evolutionary debunking arguments. This structured dialogue format proves particularly valuable for clarifying what each position must establish to succeed and what objections it must overcome, making the collection an essential resource for understanding contemporary debates about divine command theory, moral realism, and the implications of evolutionary theory for ethics.