P
Prodigal_Son
Guest
It is astonishing how often, in this Philosophy forum, we just keep rehashing the same arguments about the existence of God. One would think that philosophy were confined to such considerations, but of course it is not.
I was discussing this forum with my brother (a Catholic like myself), and he expressed the view that what he really cared about was people living moral lives and seeking after decency – he felt like the more time you spend arguing about the *existence *of God, the more time you waste giving expression to the goodness human life is capable of. From the Christian perspective, this possibility of goodness is predicated on the existence of God, of course, but that does not mean that we need only be concerned with epistemology.
So what does it mean to live a “good life”? Some Catholics might maintain that a good life is impossible without God, but does that mean that a) a person must believe in God to live a good life, or b) a person may live a good life through the grace of God while still declaring himself an agnostic?
I know that there are TONS of Scripture passages that bear on this, but since not all of us agree that Scripture is authoritative, I would prefer that we not invoke them. Otherwise we are begging the question.
What does a good life consist of? Does modern society make living the good life more difficult, or is it just as easy/difficult in every age?
Your thoughts are appreciated.
I was discussing this forum with my brother (a Catholic like myself), and he expressed the view that what he really cared about was people living moral lives and seeking after decency – he felt like the more time you spend arguing about the *existence *of God, the more time you waste giving expression to the goodness human life is capable of. From the Christian perspective, this possibility of goodness is predicated on the existence of God, of course, but that does not mean that we need only be concerned with epistemology.
So what does it mean to live a “good life”? Some Catholics might maintain that a good life is impossible without God, but does that mean that a) a person must believe in God to live a good life, or b) a person may live a good life through the grace of God while still declaring himself an agnostic?
I know that there are TONS of Scripture passages that bear on this, but since not all of us agree that Scripture is authoritative, I would prefer that we not invoke them. Otherwise we are begging the question.
What does a good life consist of? Does modern society make living the good life more difficult, or is it just as easy/difficult in every age?
Your thoughts are appreciated.