ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by recognizing a problem built into the ideal observer theory, that is, a problematic gap between fact and value. The ideal agent has played a significant role in modern ethics, and the ideal observer as subject of knowledge and belief has dominated western epistemology. The ideal agent imagines her or himself overcoming this gap, but in fact begs the question. Charles Taliaferro is a modern philosopher of religion who has defended the ideal observer theory more energetically than possibly any other. The chapter focuses on the objections which Taliaferro himself raises concerning the God’s eye point of view, and his responses. Taliaferro’s reply, in defence of shedding one’s point of view, appeals to the history of philosophy, or the ethical theory shaping this history. Taliaferro appropriates Nicholas of Cusa’s ‘loving glance’ as the sensible embrace enabling a shared and enriching exchange.
