Theoretical and Practical Moral Arguments for the Existence of God: A Critical Review

Abstract

The moral arguments for the existence of God which are formed by appealing to moral thought and experience can be categorized into theoretical and practical arguments. Kant was the first thinker who introduced the argument based on the fact that morality is an intellectual commitment. He asserted that it is necessary to assume the existence of God in order to realize goodness that is the ultimate goal of human moral life. His argument, from the critics’ point of view, is self-contradictory for its internal inconsistency and its being unable to prove the external existence of God. Thus, some Kant’s commentators have attempted to provide a theoretical argument for the existence of God by appealing to the objectivity of moral values. They claim that humans’ moral behavior in different periods is based on some universal, and popular moral values which can be explained only by taking God for granted. Some have tried, also, by correcting the general framework of Kant’s moral argument and through practical rationality of moral life, to provide a theistic argument based on morality. In their view, in the process of moral decision making and, it is practically more beneficial to accept a powerful and infinite reference at the top of a moral system, in comparison to the rival theories. In this article, while critically analyzing Kant's moral argument, we shall assess the efforts made to correct the argument resulted in both theoretical and practical expressions.

Keywords

• god
• moral argument
• theoretical moral argument
• practical moral argument
• kant