Description
Book SynopsisFree Will, Moral Responsibility, and the Desire to be a God explores the hidden corridors of the moral responsibility system to discover why that system is so widely accepted and passionately defended. The moral responsibility system has obvious charms: it provides justification for our powerful strike-back motives, transforms selfishness into the virtuous defense of our justly deserved special benefits, draws a radical distinction between humans and the other species we exploit, and protects our nonconscious belief in a just world. Those charms notwithstanding, the resilience and endurance of the moral responsibility system indicates a hidden force that not only binds together the pieces of the system but also motivates our stubborn devotion to that system. That hidden force is a nonconscious desire to be a god: a desire that afflicts both believers and atheists, and that is almost universally denied (Nietzsche being a special exception). That desire can be found throughout the history of philosophy, from Aristotle to the present. It is also manifested in myths and a variety of religious practices and teachings. The breadth, power and harm of nonconscious “apotheosis aspiration” is the focus of this study.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
Chapter One: Apotheosis Aspiration
Chapter Two: Promiscuous Teleology and Apotheosis Aspiration
Chapter Three: The Self-Made Man
Chapter Four: Human Uniqueness, Miraculous Will Power, and Rational Godliness
Chapter Five: The System of Apotheosis Aspiration
Chapter Six: Reductio ad Absurdum Defenses of the Apotheosis Aspiration System
Chapter Seven: The Perils of Apotheosis Aspiration
Chapter Eight: The Cure for Apotheosis Aspiration
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
