Foreign thinker
Erik Wielenberg
Erik WielenbergPhilosophy of Ethics and Philosophy of ReligionAmerican
Fundamental, objective moral values can be real and authoritative in themselves, without needing the command or existence of a divine commander.
Life and Thought
Erik Wielenberg is a contemporary philosopher and professor of philosophy at DePauw University. He is known for his extensive research in the field of moral philosophy, particularly his defense of theistic and non-theistic moral realism and his examination of the relationship between ethics and religion.
Erik J. Wielenberg is a contemporary American analytic philosopher and a distinguished professor of philosophy at DePauw University in Indiana, USA. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and his research focuses primarily on moral philosophy, philosophy of religion, and metaethics.
One of Wielenberg's most significant scholarly contributions is the presentation and defense of a "non-reductive, non-theistic moral realism." In his landmark work, *Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe*, he argues that objective moral truths and values do not necessarily need to rely on the will or existence of God to exist and be binding, and that humans can achieve a meaningful moral life without reliance on theology.
He has also examined evolutionary challenges to moral cognition and critiqued divine command theories in his book *Robust Ethics: The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Godless Normative Realism* and in numerous debates with philosophers of religion (including William Lane Craig). Wielenberg's views and works have made a significant contribution to contemporary discussions concerning non-theistic foundations for objective morality.
