If God does not exist, is everything permitted?

Question

The question is an adaptation of a quote from the atheist philosopher Nietzsche: "If God does not exist, then anything is permitted."

If there is no basis for behavior beyond the realm of observable fact and inference, how do we know how to behave?

Please do not make assumptions about where I am coming from on this. I'm just interested in the answer/s, that's all.

Yes I have read Mr. Dawkins' pop-philosophy and some of his pop-biology.

Answer 1

If God doesn't exist, then we don't either. So nothing is permitted.

Answer 2

Even if God does exist (ignoring the thornier issue of free will/predestination), all things are permitted, in the sense that all behavior patterns are possible. The question is, what is "right" or "best?" So, to that issue, assuming no God exists, is it possible to find a basis for proper behavior choices? Absolutely. There are many different ways to build a philosophy w/o religion. You can argue for behaviors that maximize happiness to the greatest possible number of people. Or you can argue that individual self-interest is most important, possibly with limits ("do as ye will, so ye harm none"). Or you can argue the doctrine of "human rights," that states that, by the nature of our existence as sentient beings, demands that we treat each other with respect for certain rights. Or others. And these different bases for morality can intersect--for example, you might argue that you will be happiest if everyone (or everyone near you--your country, city, etc.) has a certain minimum standard of life, because if they don't, your own life will be impacted (having to see suffering, possible riots & turmoil, etc.).

And the above are all primarily individual based moral/philosophical systems. You can found philosophies on the idea that the family is sacrosanct, or the extended family (the tribe, the city, the nation). As a religion takes the word of a God, Goddess, Prophet, etc. as the basis of a system of behavior, so a secular system takes as its basis some other ideal/entity, and "reasons" from there.

Answer 3

If God does not exist, then yes...anything is permitted because there is no eternal consequence.

Now, doing anything we want wouldn't make sense. Society would still have to have laws in order to protect humanity from itself.

We are beginning to see just how a world without God does behave...and I don't think it's looking to good. The selfishness, lack of respect of others, disregard for human life, it's horrible. A world without God has not proved to be a better place at all...in fact I see it as more a useless place. Without God, people live and die...burn themselves out...and that's it. They have no purpose.

Answer 4

We have a brain, a mind and a conscience. Therefor we should know how to behave. It is a fact that religion does not in any way make a person morally or ethically superior to a non believer. This is clearly shown the looking at the statistics of prison inmates, 90% or so claim to be christian or Muslim. Or at the amount of crimes committed by leaders of churches etc.

Each society creates a set of guidelines by which its people live. They set the moral and ethical tone for that culture. It has nothing to do with imaginary friends, only in how one should relate to others in a civilized society.

Answer 5

Honestly, we do not need a 'god' to tell us that we should all treat each other as we would like to be treated... that's just common sense!

I think the difference is, if this 80 years is indeed the only time we are ever given (and there is no eternal life) we have just spent a long time preparing for something that will never be, and wasted a lot of time, when we could have just been living in the now!

Why spend the only few and precious years I have on trying to convert people to my religion? I could have spent that time on Sunday morning having a cookout with my neighbors, and having a good time!!

Answer 6

The concept of things being permitted or not is dependent on an authority, which does not exist. The answer is that everything is possible, and will not have consequences beyond physical ones.

Answer 7

This is how we know that God does exist. Because there has been in every culture a set of rules and regulations to govern our behavior. Lower cultures have lower laws and more anarchy whereas higer cultures have more disciplined laws.

Where does that drive to order come from? It comes from being Created in the image and likeness of a great God.

Answer 8

if god does not exist then yes, anything is permitted

but if god does exist then yes, anything is permitted.

god permits anything you want to do. he will not stop you from doing it.
this is all god hopes for you to realize.

god does not punish and god does not reward. god created and designed the world. if you do something , no matter what it is, it will have a reaction.
people who believe in god say this reaction is a reward or punishment from god
atheist just say that's how the world works.
if you cheat on your wife and she breaks up with you,
a christain might say her breaking up with you was a punishment from god for not appreciating her.
an atheist might say her breaking up with you was a punishment from her for not appreciating her.

everything is the same. everything is permitted

god does not concern himself with what happened or who was involved or when it took place. god answers questions that start with "why"

Answer 9

Even if God didn't exist we would still be subject to the law of consequences, the law of cause and effect and the law of what goes round comes round. Chaos would result. I suspect we all know this on some deeper level.

Answer 10

The existance of a god does not equal morality & "right-doing" .... humans have written laws to govern morality so in essence no... not EVERYTHING is permitted.

I think what that quote is supposed to mean is that there are no boundaries to what a human being can do without god. With god you have limitations... you have to fall in line and allow yourself to be guided by rules that limit human progress. Without god you live your life for yourself and you do what you want with that life. For the most part I believe that "without god anything is permitted" means that you are not bound by the restricting and unreasonable "laws" of an imaginary deity.

The very nature of god is restricting. He punished adam and eve for taking from the knowledge tree. What kind of "all loving" god would want to restrict his children from learning & gaining knowledge? What kind of god would punish his "children" for obtaining as much knowledge as he had himself? If you knew a father who punished his children for learning, what would you say? With god it's a "do as i say not as i do" mentality, whereas without god you are free to explore the world and all the wonder it has to offer.

Answer 11

This notion is extremely ridiculous. I guess the response centers around the word permitted. Either way, there is no difference. Religious people just use more bizarre justifications for the same acts.