Christianity and Western Philosophy

Abstract

I am not a theologian, but the Christian perspective on moral questions is not, in itself, specifically Christian. That which is specifically Christian lies in one’s motivation. Christianity bestows divine authority on that which everyone can understand through basic human intuition. St. Paul asserted that the commandments revealed on Mt. Sinai are written in the heart of every Gentile; each person knows fundamentally what is good and evil. Reflection on good and evil, then, is philosophical reflection — even when theologians are doing the reflecting. The Christian perspective implies creative order, an internal structure of reality which can be understood by any human who seeks in goodwill. Goodwill, however, cannot be substantiated once again because it is self-defining. Kant discussed the “fact of reason” that cannot be derived and has its pinnacle in the recognition of each human being as an end in himself. This necessitates an initial decision, by which we simultaneously decide on our own dignity.¹ Whoever would claim that certain humans could be left at the disposal of others, that they could be used as mere material, that in the dominium terrae they belong to the terra and are thus not themselves images of God — whoever would make such claims would thereby also exclude himself from the universal community of humanity. In Judeo-Christian terms, every human is an image of God. But what does this mean practically?