Agathos - an argument from morality

Cataphatic Moral Argument

• Premise 1: Objective moral values and duties exist.

• Premise 2: The best explanation for the existence of objective moral values and duties is God.

• Conclusion: Therefore, God exists.

Apophatic Moral Argument

1. Evil is a privation of goodness. Just as darkness is a privation of light, evil is a privation of goodness. The absence of darkness is not necessarily light, similarly, the absence of evil is not necessarily goodness.

2. Therefore, since evil is a privation of goodness, the existence of evil requires the existence of goodness.

3. Suffering is a type of moral evil.

4. Conclusion: There must be an absolute standard that defines goodness, from which all privations constitute moral evils. This standard must be unchanging, infinite, eternal, and absolutely good.