God Says It, That Settles It? The Nature and Place of Moral Authorities in Political Discourse
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2018
Department
Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs
Abstract
Public policy discussions involve certain presuppositions about ethical authorities, but disclosing ethical authorities is controversial to many. Some argue that a just society, to say nothing of public persuasion, suffers when an appeal is made to a particular worldview and the moral authority found within it. Others make bald and rash appeals to moral authorities and even consider the attachment of other reasons to them as self-undermining. In this essay, I attempt to show that moral authorities are relevant and legitimately disclosed in public ethics debates. However, for Christians in particular, I point to examples drawn from the Bible not only to show that public persuasion goes beyond mere authorial-appeal and embraces authorial-reasoning, where public advocates identify the ethical directive, but also to explain why public policy derived from that directive is sensible for everyone.
Publication Title
Christian Bioethics: Non-Ecumenical Studies in Medical Morality
Volume
24
Issue
1
First Page
95
Last Page
110
Recommended Citation
Gibson, T.
(2018). God Says It, That Settles It? The Nature and Place of Moral Authorities in Political Discourse. Christian Bioethics: Non-Ecumenical Studies in Medical Morality, 24(1), 95-110.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/15872
