This book is intended as an introductory survey of moral philosophy with a particular emphasis on the relationship between morality and religious belief.

This study is an introduction to the problems of moral philosophy designed particularly for students of theology and religious studies. It offers an account of the nature and subject matter of moral reasoning and of the major types of moral theory current in contemporary moral philosophy. The account aims to bring out the major issues in moral theory, to present a clear, non-technical articulation of the structure of moral knowledge and to explore the relation between religious belief and morality.

This book examines a range of important conceptual, ethical, social and religious issues arising from mental handicap. It contains a vigorous defence of the contention that mentally handicapped human beings are persons. It attacks both the contemporary philosophical attempts to dismiss the personhood of mentally handicapped people and the genocidal policies which those attempts suggest. It explores the logic of the attitudes which have lead to the marginalisation and oppression of the mentally handicapped.

Peter Byrne takes a critical look at the traditional attempt to interpret religion in moral terms. He discusses the general character of moral interpretation, probes the relation of religion to morality, and assesses historical attempts to reason directly from the basis of morality to the existence of a personal God. His work clearly demonstrates the strengths of a moral approach to religious faith and the surest method for building a cogent moral argument.

This book examines a selection of major types of theory explaining religion: religious, philosophical, sociological, socio-economic and psychological. It treats of the presuppositions behind such theories and the grounds of their necessity and validity. It looks at major styles in the definition of religion. It argues that the case for making religion the subject of large scale theorising has not been made and contends that the explanation of religion proceeds better by concentrating on the specifics of religious history and the interconnections between religious ideas.

Peter Byrne's study of God and realism offers a critical survey of issues surrounding the realist interpretation of theism and theology. Byrne presents a general argument for interpreting the intent of talk about God in a realist fashion and argues that judging the intent of theistic discourse should be the primary object of concern in the philosophy of religion. He considers a number of important ideas and thinkers supporting global anti-realism, and finds them all wanting. After the refutation of global anti-realism, Byrne considers a number of important arguments in favour of the notion...