Religion and Morality

Morality is the extent to which an action is deemed right or wrong.

Some people may utilise this idea to prove the existence of God. However, there are various issues and problems associated with this.

There are two principal moral arguments:

1. Kant's moral argument
2. Thomas Aquinas' fourth way

1. Immanuel Kant was a prominent 18th century philosopher who contemplated about the existence of God. He considered morality to be proof of his existence through this logic:

1. People may do good and bad in their lifetime but not be rewarded nor punished for it in the same lifetime.
2. As a result, there prospect of a reward in the after life must be enough to motivate people to act good in their lifetime.
3. However, the prospect of a reward is too far away and people may ignore it.
4. Kant argues that people feel some sort of obligation to act morally. These obligations are called categorical imperatives.
5. However, if as a consequence to their actions, God exists in the after life to serve justice. In order for justice to be served, we have to believe that God exists in the after life. Therefore God exists.

Categorical imperatives are such that they are adopted as universal laws.
A universal law states: one should act according to a maxim that may be adopted by everyone and have good results.

2. Thomas Aquinas was another prominent philosopher whose argument for morality conveys the existence of God. This argument is called the 'fourth way'.

1. God is portrayed as the 'ultimate good' and everyone strives to be like him.
2. When something is good, noble and true, it must have experienced that from something more good, noble and true.
3. However, there cannot be a infinite regression of good.
4. God is the ultimate good and everything else is the created order striving towards that ultimate reality.

When someone is warm, we know they have been in a warm place such as close to a fire. The same can be said about a good and moral person. The more good and moral, the closer they have been to God.