Goodness, God, and Evil

Most contemporary versions of moral realism are beset with difficulties. Many of these difficulties arise because of a faulty conception of the nature of goodness. Goodness, God, and Evil lays out and defends a new version of moral realism that re-conceives the nature of goodness. Alexander argues that the adjective 'good' is best thought of as an attributive adjective and not as a predicative one. In other words, the adjective 'good' logically cannot be detached from the noun (or noun phrase) that it modifies. It is further argued that this conception of the function of the adjective implies that recent attempts to provide necessary a posteriori identities between goodness and something else must fail. The convertibility of being and goodness, the privation theory of evil, a denial of the fact-value distinction, human nature as the ground of human morality and even a novel argument for the existence of God are some of the implications of the account of goodness that Alexander offers.

David Alexander has written a clear, thoughtful, and timely defense of conclusions well worth pressing in the current philosophical climate. His discussion of the thesis that 'good' is attributive is one of the best available. And his development of this thesis with an eye on belief in God is just excellent. His book should be read by anyone with a serious interest in moral philosophy and/or philosophy of religion.

David E. Alexander is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Huntington University, Indiana, USA.