Oxford studies in Metaethics.. Volume 3

This third volume of Oxford Studies in Metaethics, edited by Russ Shafer-Landau, presents a collection of cutting-edge essays that advance contemporary debates in moral philosophy, with several contributions bearing significantly on questions about God's relationship to morality. The volume exemplifies the analytical rigor characteristic of contemporary metaethics while engaging with perennial questions about the foundations of moral truth and obligation.

The collection addresses fundamental metaethical questions through diverse methodological approaches, from conceptual analysis to moral psychology. Several essays examine whether objective moral truths require divine grounding, a debate central to moral arguments for God's existence. Contributors explore various positions on moral realism, investigating whether moral facts can exist independently of human attitudes or divine commands. This inquiry directly engages the Euthyphro dilemma and its modern variations, questioning whether morality depends on God or exists autonomously.

Key contributions analyze the epistemological challenges facing both theistic and secular accounts of moral knowledge. Some authors defend naturalistic approaches to moral properties, arguing that evolutionary biology and psychology can explain moral phenomena without invoking supernatural entities. Others critique such reductionist accounts, maintaining that the normative force of morality resists naturalistic explanation. These debates illuminate the broader question of whether theism provides unique resources for understanding moral obligation and motivation.

The volume's dialogical approach presents competing perspectives on divine command theory, moral constructivism, and response-dependent accounts of value. Several essays examine whether atheistic worldviews can adequately account for categorical moral imperatives or whether such imperatives implicitly presuppose a divine legislator. Contributors also investigate the relationship between moral responsibility and metaphysical freedom, addressing whether libertarian free will, often associated with theistic frameworks, provides necessary conditions for genuine moral agency.

Shafer-Landau's editorial selection demonstrates metaethics' relevance to natural theology and philosophy of religion. By rigorously analyzing the metaphysical and epistemological foundations of morality, the volume provides essential resources for evaluating moral arguments both for and against God's existence. The collection represents the discipline's commitment to examining these foundational questions through careful argumentation rather than dogmatic assertion, making it valuable for scholars across philosophical traditions interested in the intersection of ethics and theology.