In Morality, Religious and Secular: The Dilemma of the Traditional Conscience, Basil Mitchell wrestles with the relationship between morality and theism. Through a critical examination of three wholly secular moral theories — rational/scientific humanism, romantic humanism and liberal humanism — he concludes that non-religious moralities, though simpler in some ways, fail to meet the demands of the ‘traditional conscience’. He argues that morals are essentially a matter of necessity, a product of human needs, undergirded by accepted conceptions of personhood and relationality. As the Western moral tradition has been most profoundly shaped by the teachings of Christianity, Mitchell questions whether or not this morality can be maintained in a wholly secular climate. ~ Brannon Hancock

Table of Contents

• • Preface
  • I: Introduction: Our Contemporary Moral Confusion
  • 2: Rational Humanism
  • 3: Romantic Humanism
  • 4: Liberal Humanism
  • 5: Two Secular Critics of Humanist Ethics
  • 6: The Dilemma of the Traditional Conscience
  • 7: Transition to a Religious Ethic; Morality and World-views
  • 8: The Theological Frontier of Ethics
  • 9: The Dilemma Illustrated: The Sanctity of Life
  • 10: Religion, Scepticism, and the Demands of Autonomy
  • 11: Conclusion