Q&A: Eternal Values Like God
Eternal Values Like God
Question
If I understand correctly, you argue that moral values and religious values (what one attains by observing Jewish law) were not created arbitrarily by God, but rather exist independently, and He merely chose to command us regarding them (correct me if I’m misunderstanding your position here).
How does that fit with there being eternal, non-contingent ontological entities besides God?
Answer
First, these are not entities. Second, they could be parts of Him.
Discussion on Answer
I’m jumping in from the side — if they exist alongside Him, then how does the cosmological proof fit with that? These entities too would be unique entities in which the regress stops, like God, and wouldn’t need a prior cause?
What’s the problem with that?
Not a problem, but a new claim — and if you hold it, it would be nice to put it on the table: that you accept the cosmological argument, but there are all sorts of things—not just one thing where regresses stop—that escape the need for a cause: moral values, values of Jewish law, and probably also the eternal positive utility/glory associated with them. Maybe souls too would exist without a prior cause.
Ah, you mean moral realism. Even if these really are entities in the ordinary sense, they exist alongside Him or as part of Him. What’s the problem?