Erik J. Wielenberg, Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press 2005, X + 193 pp.
Reviewed by Marek Pepliński, University of Gdansk, Poland
Fo u
Philosophi u
, z. , 9 -201.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=25743301&lang=pl&site=ehost-live
The question of the nature of the relationship between God and morality is
o e of the
ost i te esti g a d diffi ult. E ik J. Wiele
e g’s ook is a atte pt to
illuminate the contemporary debate concerning that relation from the perspective
of naturalism of certain kind. Instead of arguing for the truth of naturalism, he
proposes for us to suppose that it is true, and to search for and examine
implications, mainly of the ethical sort, that his conditional project has for the
meaning of human life, morality, value and virtue. The partial aim of the book is to
respond to arguments made by some Christian philosophers seeking to refute
naturalism by pointing to its supposedly unacceptable ethical consequences.
The e t al o po e t of Wiele
„ o supe atu al e tities e ist, o
futu e . Putti g this i othe
e g’s atu alis
is the egati e lai , that
... e isted i the past, o
o ds, the e is o God, o i
ill the i the
o tal soul and we
came into being solely through a combination of chance and necessity. Our
beginning is not the work of Providence, nor is it a result of the operation of
intelligent design, and our death marks the permanent end of our conscious life,
by which Wielenberg means, I suppose, the end of any kind of human life. There is
no afterlife, and no reincarnation. His naturalism is of an ontological kind, not
epistemological or methodological. He does not endorse the claim that all facts
are scientific, because, as he states it, his version of naturalism leaves open the
possibility that there are ethical facts that are not reducible to scientific or physical
facts.
The book has five chapters, apart from the important introduction, references
and index. The first chapter defends the view that human life can be meaningful
even if God does not exist. The second is an examination of two different divine
command theories, taken as the explanations or maybe the explications of the
morality-God relationship. Chapter three is devoted to other aspects of that
1
possible relationship - the divine guarantee of perfect justice. In this part
Wielenberg examines some responses to the question: why should we be moral?
He explores two different positions, the Humean and Kantian accounts of practical
reasons to care about what our moral obligations are. Finally, in this chapter, he
accepts the Kantian statement that the only correct reason for doing what we
should is that we ought to do so. The first three chapters make up the first part of
the book, which argues for the possibility of ethics in a godless universe. The
second part contains two last chapters and is devoted to the issues of the content
of morality in such a universe. Chapter four presents a part of, as we could call it,
secular virtue ethics, with an account of the secular equivalents of humility,
ha it a d hope. Wiele
e g’s i estigatio s a e go e ed
a e
assu ptio
made in this chapter, that we know naturalism to be true. The last chapter can be
interpreted as a comparison of two competing general views of reality, theism and
naturalism, where the version of theism is Christianity and the version of
atu alis
is Wiele
e g’s. I ill dis uss
iefl the issues of the last t o hapte s
and then elaborate some of difficulties of the first part of book.
Chapter four investigates the possibility and nature of ethical character in a
godless universe. The underlying assumption of that chapter, the knowledge that
naturalism is true, is introduced to examine several naturalistic equivalents of
Christian virtues, theological and others. Let us turn our attention to humility.
After Wielenberg rejects some possible candidates for naturalistic humility based
o A istotle’s i tue of high-mindedness, contrasted with J. Dri e ’s a ou t of
odest , he dis usses C. “. Le is’s o ept of hu ilit f o
’’The Scre tape
Letters”, and develops an account of naturalistic humility inspired by the views of
the author of „Four Lo es”. Lewis position is that humility is not a matter of
u de esti ati g so e od ’s o th, ut is esse tiall
edit fo o e’s o
o stituted
o th a d a o plish e ts. A hu
le pe so
gi i g p ope
a
o e tl
know her worth but is deeply convinced that God and not she should be given
most credit for that worth and her works. This conviction manifests itself in
gratefulness towards God. There is a connection between humility and obedience.
A humble person recognizes her place in the universe, her dependence on God.
But this is impossible in a godless, naturalistic universe, where there is no
2
hie a h . This fa t does ’t
ake atu alisti hu ilit i possi le, e ause the
thing makes humility an appropriate attitude is dependence of human beings on
God. Both in a theistic and in a naturalistic universe our fate depends upon factors
outside of our control. In a theistic universe much of the credit for our
accomplishments should go to God, because these relevant factors are under
God’s o t ol. A o di gl , i a atu alisti u i e se the ele a t fa to s a e under
the control of no one. So, naturalistic humility consists in the acceptance of the
elief that
u h of the
edit fo o e’s o
o th a d a o plish e ts should
go to no one. At first, this seems a surprising stance, but it is, I think,
understandable stance when somebody has made the assumptions Wielenberg
makes. But is there any reason to desire such a virtue in a godless universe? The
reason cannot consist in the fact that it is an equivalent of a Christian, religious
i tue, e ause this does ’t
atter for an atheist and unbeliever. Beside, it seems
to me, that in a godless universe any comparison of some naturalistic virtue with
its religious equivalent has no motivational worth. So, a naturalist should work out
his own set of virtues, values and goods. This concerns all the naturalistic virtues
Wielenberg explores, and his account could be counted as only a first step toward
this goal. And the account of that set should be more convincing than the one we
e ei e i
Wiele
e g’s
ook. Is the e eally a place for hope, in a godless
universe, when the ground of hope is confidence that science alone can improve
and ameliorate our lives and our lot? I assume, that we can think about our
universe as a godless one. But in this universe, hope that relies on science alone
appears to be vane. Again, from a naturalistic point of view, if my former remark is
hue, does Wielenberg use a proper method in his work, when he compares
naturalistic and Christian virtues?
The final chapter is concerned with two questions. The first concerns the
possible merits of the argument that supernaturalism should be accepted not
because of its truth but because of its consequences, when applied to Christianity.
Wielenberg suggests that some ideas of the Old Testament, like the commands
given by God to invade, kill and sacrifice, are very dangerous, and if they are
essential to Christianity, this should count against it. The second part of the last
chapter is devoted to exploring the idea that naturalism is a creed by which we
3
can live. After the detailed discussion of an argument made by Gordon Graham in
Evil and Christian Ethics, where he argues that if naturalism is true, then there is
nothing that can be done to improve the general lot of humanity, Wielenberg
states that G aha ’s arguments are inconclusive and that there is place for the
hope that moral improvement through neuroscience is possible. He concludes,
that although naturalism is a creed that some can live by and some cannot, the
questions whether it is a creed we can live by and whether it is true concern
distinct issues. We certainly should agree with him that it may be the case that
naturalism is a truth that many people cannot accept. But similarly it may be the
case that Christian theism is a truth that many unbelievers cannot accept. So,
again, to move the discussion forward will necessarily involve arguments for and
against the truth/falsity of these different and competing points of view.
Such arguments may concern the possibility and nature of a meaningful human
life, discussed in the first chapter. Wielenberg distinguishes three different
meaning that human life can possibly have. It has a supernatural meaning if it has
a purpose that is assigned by a supernatural being. Human life has an external
meaning, when that life brings goodness into the universe. It has an internal
meaning in the case when the life in question is good for the person whose life it is
and includes activity that is worthwhile. Wielenberg thinks that it is possible that
life has an internal meaning but lacks external meaning, because he accepts the
following argument. Some person engages in worthwhile activity that brings her
pleasure and gives her life internal meaning. The ground of the worth of the
activity is the fact, that it is a way to accomplish some goal. But if the person in
question had never lived, the same goal would have been accomplished by some
other person. So, in this case, the life of the first person lack external meaning,
because the universe would have been just as good if he had never lived. But her
life has internal meaning, therefore external meaning is not a necessary condition
of internal meaning. I find this argument unconvincing, because it works only if we
remove the real possibility that the worthy aim could be accomplished only by the
one person in question and by no other. Personal happiness or making somebody
happy are two examples of such an aim, as is an aim which is essentially related to
one and only one person. Wielenberg omits this possibility and therefore his
4
argument establishes the independence of only some kinds of internal and
external meaning.
Wielenberg considers and rebuts three arguments for the conclusion, that if
there is no God, then no human life has internal meaning. The first is the final
outcome argument. He construes it in the following way: if we think of human life
as the sum total of all the things that happen to a person, then the value of a
series of events depends entirely on the value of the very last state of affairs to
which that series causally contributes. Since without God there is no afterlife and
an outcome is therefore entirely devoid of value, it follows that human life lacks
internal meaning. Wielenberg correctly points out that this kind of argument is
inconclusive because it overestimates the value of the last event in a series of
events. But he is right only if it is not the case that the last event is more important
than all the preceding events. There is another possibility, equally destructive to
Wiele
e g’s easo i g, that the value any event has is essentially linked to the
last event as its valuable aim. So, it is possible that Wielenberg is right, and that
there is a possible internal meaning that the final outcome argument deal with,
but it is unjustified to think that this internal meaning is the kind people have in
mind, when they consider whether their life has any worth in the face of
impending death.
A second argument is based on the belief that a life has internal meaning only
if it has a supernatural meaning, which is possible only in universe with God, who
assigns to people an external goal. A life without supernatural meaning is
pointless, according to this line of reasoning. Wielenberg calls this the pointless
existence argument. The third argument, called the nobody of significance cares
argument states that life has internal meaning only if an omnipotent, omniscient
and morally perfect being cares about it. I agree that this argument is the weakest
of the three. Wielenberg explores different answers to these objections using the
argumentation of Richard Taylor, author of Good and Evil, Pete “i ge ’s a ou t
of „ethi al life , a d the A istotelia
Wiele
e g o side s a d fi all
ie of a ti ities that a e i t i si all good.
eje ts Ta lo ’s p oposal, that the internal
alue of a i di idual’s life is di e tl p opo tio al to the deg ee to
pe so is e gaged i the desi ed a ti it . But I a
hi h that
ot lea a out Wiele
e g’s
5
assessment of the responses Taylor could give to the three abovementioned
arguments. The plain statement against the pointless existence argument, that we
ourselves are qualified to assign purpose to our lives is not enough, as is the
answer to the nobody of significance cares argument, that we are sufficiently
significant to make our lives meaningful. It is not enough not only because it is not
an argument, but also because many people think and feel, and I suppose they are
right, that some purposes they assign to their lives have little significance. They
lack the significance and value
hi h ould fulfill thei life’s i te al
ea i g a d
value. But what is possible for some, may be possible for all. The reason why
Wielenberg rejects Taylor account of internal meaning is, the very sophisticated
and tasty case of the grinning excrement-eater, compared with the pianist, where
both are engaged in an activity for which they have a genuine passion. Of course,
the first activity is worthless and first person should be an object of pity. But this
does ’t appl to the pia ist. The i te al
eaning cannot consist solely in doing
what you actually want, but must be a matter of the value of the activity. This is
the o e t di e tio . Wiele
e g the
o side s “i ge ’s ie s that the edu tio
of avoidable suffering is the most objectively worthwhile goal in our universe and
to de ote o e’s life to it
i g i te al
ea i g to o e’s life. But the
ost
promising is, according to him, the Aristotelian doctrine of intrinsically and
e t i si all good a ti ities. He thi ks that “i ge ’s a d A istotelian views help us
to reject the final outcome argument and the pointless existence argument. Again,
he is right, but only if we assume the possibility, that there are possible objective
worthwhile goals, and that there are extrinsically and intrinsically good activities
not dependent on the existence of God. But maybe this is not the case. So,
Wiele
e g’s a gu e ts eg the uestio , si e he did ot esol e ade uatel the
relationship between God and morality. And this is the aim of the second and third
chapters. I will focus the rest of my attention on the content of the former.
The second chapter: God and morality, is devoted to explaining the idea of God
as the o
ipote t
eato of
o alit , o „ eato of ethi s , as Wiele
eg
formulates it. There are many different accounts of the dependence of morality on
God, a d o l so e o sist i
aki g God’s ill esse tial. Wiele
e g dete
i es
the problem using two theses: the Control Thesis and the Dependency Thesis. The
6
first states that every logically consistent ethical claim, E, is such that God could
make E true. The second states, that every true ethical claim is true in virtue of
some act of will on the part of God. I find many of the arguments in the chapter
sound and many both sound and cogent. In particular, he correctly concludes that
A. Pla ti ga’s f ee ill defe se a d J. Hi k’s soul
aki g theodi , the t o a s e s
to the problem of evil, fail if the Control Thesis is true. But I think, that despite the
fact that Wielenberg makes his own distinctions of strong and weak positions,
both these theses are very strong and are not typically endorsed by many theists.
Maybe, they could be accepted by voluntaristic philosophers, and theologians like
Ockham and Descartes, but there are plenty of philosophers who endorse theistic
morality and do not endorse a voluntaristic divine command ethics. But
Wiele
e g’s fo
ulatio a d i te p etatio of the Depe de
Thesis is plai l
voluntaristic. It is not a necessary interpretation, and we could save the
formulation, and reject voluntarism, if we construed the thesis as stating that are
no true ethical claims if there is no created world, and it is in virtue of an act of
God’s
ill that a
eated
o ld e ists. But
e also a ept the ie
that if God
creates morality he cannot, at least in the case of some activities, assign to them
values other than the values they have. Moreover, we could enhance the
Dependency Thesis by the claim that it is because of the dependence of nature,
and creatures, on God the creator, that these natures have value, goodness or
perfection. This would be consistent with some interpretations of the Dependency
Thesis and with the ethical rejection of ridiculous beliefs, like the conviction that
God can make intrinsically evil activities good solely by an act of His will.
U fo tu atel , Wiele
e g does ’t
o side
a
su h possi le sta e a d
therefore the problems we meet in the chapter on the meaning of life remain
unresolved.
Moreover, he is not convincing in his assumption that the strong naturalistic
view of reality, where the genesis of all beings is a combination of necessity and
chance, is reconcilable with the ethical realism, which he endorses in chapters 2
and 3. As a matter of fact, this is an ethical realism of a really strong kind. He
accepts the view that there are many necessary ethical truths, where the type of
necessity involved is broadly logical or metaphysical necessity rather than strict
7
logical necessity. His example is the claim that suffering is intrinsically evil. This is
true not only in this universe, in this possible world, but in every possible world.
So, this is a necessary truth and the cause of its necessity is the essential nature of
the things that this claim is about. But this is an explanation that needs another
explanation. Again, why do any of the beings in any of the possible worlds have an
essential nature? And why are necessary ethical truths, part of the furniture of the
universe? It seems to be a kind of naturalistic mystery. Nevertheless, even if there
is somewhere a cogent naturalistic explanation of ethical necessity, that part of
Wiele
e g’s atu alis
e ai s u lea . A d should that ie
eall
e p efe ed
to theism, with its account of the Creator of all things, including values and
goodness? After all, even if rej ect some views of the relation between God and
morality, Wielenberg does not show us, that there is no such relation. This is
because his account of the relationship seems to be a little bit superficial. What he
really shows is that the Control Thesis is false, which is obvious according to a
non-voluntaristic theistic account of morality, like the Thomistic one. Wielenberg
tacitly assumes a voluntaristic vision of the theism he attacks, and this conjoined
with his passing over the intellectualistic tradition of theism, is one of the biggest
eak esses of Wiele
e g’s ook. Of ou se, this does ’t
ea that it is ithout
value. It is written with clarity, is very provocative, and should be read by anyone
who is interested in the difficult theme of the God-morality relationship.
MAREK PEPLIŃSKI
University of Gdansk, Poland
8