Given some of the points made in the Introduction, it may seem indulgent to spend time on the foundations of moral philosophy. Yet at critical junctures throughout the book, we will sometimes have to bear such foundations in mind, particularly the set of ideas I will define and defend as ‘social humanism’. To what extent are we obliged to protect people from themselves? Are we primarily sovereign agents or immersed in social relations? Does life begin at conception or later? Should we respect life per se or the person whose life that is? All ethical foundations help provide answers to such questions, ones that are vital to the debates ahead. We will therefore refer back to this chapter periodically as we progress.

This chapter explores the three possible foundations that pretty much seem to exhaust the field of inquiry: the religious, the natural and the social. Our understanding of, and stance towards, modern moral philosophy will alter depending on the place we start from and the principal ideas we use when advancing further.

Religion

Religion has been one victor of a post-ideological world where political idealism has subsided and global societies face barely understood storms of insecurity from which many seek traditional shelters. Both faith and fanaticism have enjoyed a revival and while the latter can discredit theism it may also serve to emphasise the sanity and reasonableness of less strident forms of religious belief. Should we therefore place ethics primarily on a religious footing?

Reason

The argument that only religion can provide secure foundations for morality is well known. It is almost obligatory to quote Ivan in The Brothers Karamazov, to the effect that if there is no God everything is permitted. But the idea that without a love or fear of God humans have no convincing reason to act ethically is much older. St Augustine insisted, 16 centuries ago:

There is here no such figure as the virtuous atheist.

Secularists reply that there simply are no moral guarantees because with God why have so many atrocities been possible.