Do You Need God To Be Good?

Do you need to believe in God to be a good person? Most people have a gut answer to that question. This episode of American Socrates asks what happens when you actually examine it. First, we examine what history says about it. Then we examine the science, which is more complicated than either side admits. Third, we look at Kant, who built the most rigorous secular ethics, and Hegel, who pointed out a serious hole at its center. And finally, we look at Iris Murdoch, the philosopher and novelist who gave what might be the best answer so far. The need for something real and demanding outside yourself. Something you didn't author and can't dismiss. Be that God or something else.

Image: Ten Commandments of Moses by Anton Losenko