ABSTRACT
The argument from morality to religion, if it is an argument, must proceed on assumptions similar to those that have already been expounded in summary form. A good man, on this view, is one who follows for their own sake universal moral principles no less rational or reasonable than the principles of scientific thinking. In acting morally a rational agent does not assume the existence of God in the same direct way as he assumes his own freedom. The so-called moral argument for the existence of God is sometimes put crudely as if God's existence were necessary in order that the appropriate amount of happiness might be granted to each individual as a reward for virtue a curiously humble office to assign to the Almighty. Similar arguments if this misleading word may still be used are sometimes put forward in order to justify or defend a belief in personal immortality.
