The Christmas Conspiracy!

THREE: "THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS: ABOLISHED OR CONFIRMED?

LAW

THE THIRD ARCHETYPE

"'. . . that He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.'
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of God from Jerusalem."
Micah 4:2

The Modern Shift:
AUTONOMY vs.THEONOMY

In a world dichotomized between facts and values axiology has come to the foreground in modern philosophy. Due to skepticism with respect to questions about the nature and basis of moral judgment, contemporary moral philosophy has been considerably narrowed in its scope. Also there has been an ironic return by those who followed in the autonomous footsteps of Kant precisely to the ethic of inclination which Kant was trying to avoid. In modern ethics there has been a definite turn toward voluntarism, intuitionism, and noncognitivism. There has also been an interesting turn made to questions of metaethics and away from the field of normative ethics (which is significant commentary in itself). Instead of seeking to answer the questions, "What is really right and wrong?" and, "Why?" contemporary axiology has inquired into the logical structure of moral discourse; rather than attempting to understand the validity, content, order, consistency and universality of morals (i.e., ethical system), the current ethicist studies the language of ethics in order to ascertain its function and logical status. What does a valuational word such as "good" mean? Metaethics seeks to answer this question. [291]

Next: Naturalistic Objectivism