The Morality Wars

In this book, contributors who are atheists, believers, and anything in between debate the origins and nature of morality and the human impulse for good.

In The Morality Wars, contributors from religious and non-religious backgrounds debate the origin and nature of human goodness. While the subject is often addressed by prominent figures on both sides of the believer/atheist divide on public platforms and social media, participants seldom get the opportunity to explain their viewpoints in depth. In addition to engaging the traditional conflict between science and religious faith over the content and nature of the moral conscience, the contributors also draw on and engage with figures who are often neglected when committed theologians and atheists debate each other, such as Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Jacques Lacan.

The Morality Wars: A Discussion on Why We Are Good Louise Mabille

Part I: The Naturalists

1. A Science of Good and Evil Sam Harris

2. The Origins of Morality in the Human Psyche Bert Olivier

3 .Morality as Delusion Michael Ruse

4 .Return to the Enlightenment Susan Neiman

Part II: The Ambivalents

5. No science of morality Steven Weinberg

6. Misunderstanding Moral Psychology Jonathan Haidt

7. The Use and Abuse of Naturalism for Morality Louise Mabille

Part III: The Theists

8. My God-Given Conscience Henk Stoker

9. Theism as Meta-Ethical Foundation for Morality William Lane Craig

10. Morality as Based on Natural Law Richard Howe

11. Ethics Needs God Paul Copan

12. Biologizing Ethics and the Destruction of Morality John Lennox