Episode 89 Dr. Jeremy Koons DEC 16, 2012

Think Atheist

This week on Think Atheist Radio we have our chat with Dr. Jeremy Koons. Dr. Koons received his BA in the philosophy of religion from Virigina's Hampden-Sydney College, graduating Summa Cum Laude, before receiving a PhD in philosophy, with distinction, from Georgetown University. He has held positions at Auburn University, the American University of Beirut, Hong Kong University, and Massachusetts' Stonehill College. Dr. Koons is now an associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Affairs in Qatar. With a particular focus on ethics and epistemology, his areas of interest include the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and logic. The author of Pragmatic Reasons: A Defense of Morality and Epistemology, he has also published numerous papers and presented at several conferences, while being recognized repeatedly with awards and fellowships. We asked Dr. Koons to join us to discuss a recently published paper (pdf) of his that asks the question, "Can God's Goodness Save The Divine Command Theory from Euthyphro?" We discussed whether Christian ethics can be rescued from a dilemma for the theist where choosing one side results in meaninglessness, while choosing the other side results in an arbitrary morality that says that something is or isn't moral– including, for instance, the torture of infants– only insofar God says it is. Theist philosophers of religion recognize the risks here and have tried to come up with some ways to get around the dilemma. Can one solution in particular succeed?