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Is expressivism theologically acceptable?

Is expressivism theologically acceptable?
Is expressivism theologically acceptable?
As a matter of fact, few, if any, theists have been expressivists about morality. This is probably because expressivism is thought to have unacceptable theological implications. That is, it is thought to imply (1) that God’s goodness depends on our desire-like states, (2) that God’s goodness is not a real property, (3) that it is not true that God is good, and (4) that God’s moral thoughts have no explanation. I argue that expressivism has no such implications and conclude that expressivism is theologically acceptable.
Expressivism, Theism
1572-8684
121-131
Lambert, St.John Roy
6e8ec897-8ef9-4f30-81c8-dcd75285bfa7
Lambert, St.John Roy
6e8ec897-8ef9-4f30-81c8-dcd75285bfa7

Lambert, St.John Roy (2021) Is expressivism theologically acceptable? International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 90 (2), 121-131. (doi:10.1007/s11153-021-09793-z).

Record type: Article

Abstract

As a matter of fact, few, if any, theists have been expressivists about morality. This is probably because expressivism is thought to have unacceptable theological implications. That is, it is thought to imply (1) that God’s goodness depends on our desire-like states, (2) that God’s goodness is not a real property, (3) that it is not true that God is good, and (4) that God’s moral thoughts have no explanation. I argue that expressivism has no such implications and conclude that expressivism is theologically acceptable.

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Is expressivism theologically acceptable? - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 18 February 2021
Published date: October 2021
Additional Information: Funding Information: I am very grateful to Alex Gregory, Brad Hooker, Jonathan Way, and Martin Dunkley Smith for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I am also grateful to members of the Postgraduate Research Seminar at the University of Southampton for their insightful feedback. This work was generously supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [AH/L503939/1]. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).
Keywords: Expressivism, Theism

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Local EPrints ID: 447339
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/447339
ISSN: 1572-8684
PURE UUID: 8ec75af5-5ec8-4eb8-adf5-be655d7dec0e

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Date deposited: 09 Mar 2021 17:33
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 11:13

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Author: St.John Roy Lambert

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