Single Idea 22345

[catalogued under 28. God / A. Divine Nature / 6. Divine Morality / c. God is the good]

Full Idea

God was (or is) a single perfect transcendent non-representable and necessarily real object of attention. ....Moral philosophy should attempt to retain a central concept which has all these characteristics.

Gist of Idea

Moral philosophy needs a central concept with all the traditional attributes of God

Source

Iris Murdoch (The Sovereignty of Good [1970], II)

Book Reference

Murdoch,Iris: 'The Sovereignty of Good' [RKP 1974], p.55


A Reaction

This is a combination of middle Platonism (which sees the Form of the Good as the mind of God) and G.E. Moore's indefinable ideal of goodness. Murdoch connects this suggestion with the centrality of love in moral philosophy. I disagree.

Related Idea

Idea 22339 Love is a central concept in morals [Murdoch]