The Morals of the Story: Good News About a Good God

This monograph presents a moral argument for theism, contending that objective morality requires a transcendent foundation best explained by the existence of God. Baggett constructs his case through systematic engagement with secular moral theories, demonstrating their inadequacy in grounding moral realism while arguing that theism provides the necessary metaphysical resources for objective moral values and obligations.

The work proceeds through careful philosophical analysis of competing naturalistic accounts of morality. Baggett examines evolutionary ethics, social contract theories, and various forms of moral constructivism, arguing that each fails to account for the binding nature and universal scope of moral obligations. He particularly focuses on the problem of moral knowledge, questioning how purely naturalistic processes could produce reliable access to moral truths. The author engages substantively with prominent secular ethicists, including Richard Joyce, Michael Ruse, and Sharon Street, showing how their attempts to explain morality without transcendent grounding ultimately lead to moral skepticism or relativism.

Central to Baggett's positive case is his defense of moral realism—the view that moral facts exist independently of human beliefs or practices. He argues that common moral intuitions about the wrongness of torture, the value of human dignity, and obligations of justice point toward objective moral truths that transcend cultural variation. These moral facts, he contends, require an ontological foundation that naturalism cannot provide. Drawing on the tradition of moral argument associated with C.S. Lewis and more recently William Lane Craig, Baggett maintains that a personal, morally perfect God best explains both the existence of moral values and our capacity to apprehend them.

The monograph addresses standard objections to divine command theory, including the Euthyphro dilemma, offering a nuanced account of how God's nature grounds morality without arbitrariness. Baggett also considers the problem of evil, acknowledging its force while arguing that it presupposes the very objective moral standards his argument seeks to establish. His methodology combines rigorous analytical philosophy with accessible prose, making complex metaethical debates available to broader audiences.

This work contributes significantly to contemporary philosophy of religion by providing a comprehensive defense of the moral argument that engages seriously with current secular moral philosophy. Baggett's careful treatment of naturalistic alternatives and his positive case for theistic ethics positions this monograph as an important contribution to debates about morality's metaphysical foundations.