Naturalism cannot support the idea that human beings have real, intrinsic value. This is a feature of the Judeo-Christian theology of the imago Dei – that we are made in the image of God. Absent this theological foundation, there is no reason to think human value is real. At best, humans only have a subjective, extrinsic value; i.e. our value is derived from our own estimation of ourselves. Human beings value particular traits that they possess, and thus value the human beings who possess such traits (a circular, biased, and wholly subjective estimation). This sort of value, however, is fictitious. It only exists in our minds, and it only extends to those that we think it extends to. This value is never equal, and it rarely applies to all human beings. Some human beings will be considered to be more valuable than others, and some will be deemed to have no value at all.
A foundational debate in bioethics concerns the basis for human value: Are we valuable in virtue of being human, or are we valuable in virtue of some characteristic we acquire or some function we can perform? Is our value rooted in our being, or our doing? I’m not confident that the debate will remain here for long, however. Secular bioethicists already dominate the field, and thus the extrinsic view of human value already dominates the academy. I think the future of the debate will be between those who affirm an extrinsic view of human value and those who hold to a nihilist view of value (denying the concept of human value altogether).
We are already seeing bioethicists deny the concept of human value as a relic of speciesism that fails to grapple with the implications of Darwinian evolution. Humans are not special, they say. We are just another animal in the forest. We may have some unique characteristics compared to other animals, but being unique is not the same thing as being valuable. There is no basis in a naturalistic, Darwinian worldview for human value. Value is subjective, and hence not real. It is a figment of our own imagination. It is a human concept that we may wish were true, but there is no basis for it in reality.
God help us if the nihilistic view gains ascendency. On an extrinsic view of value, some humans are expendable, but on a nihilistic view of value, all of us are expendable. Only an intrinsic value of human beings that is rooted in theism is sufficient to provide the foundation for real human value and secure human rights and equality for all.
Thinking to Believe 
November 4, 2022 at 2:01 pm
That was a great post Jason!!! The answer is quite simple……YES!, human beings are made in the image of GOD, therefore that in itself make human beings special, unique and of great value….especially since the Lord made our human souls immortal….unlike the animal kingdom.
If anyone disagrees with that, ask them how long they will go without water or food to sustain their life?……those same people will beg, borrow or steal to gain nutrition to live.
Ask those who choose to devalue humanity what they would do to survive in a dangerous situation…they will do ALL they can to survive, because that image of God that is EVEN in them, will do all to live and not die.
Of course these same humanity-deniers will be the biggest fans of abortion & euthanasia for others. These humanity-deniers include the likes of Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates & Yuval Harari – all atheists and globalists. These same “people” push for transhumanism & depopulation by any means possible, and that is based on the fact that they devalue humanity (except for themselves because they consider themselves as “The Elite”)
We as human beings, made in the image of God Almighty, were given the awesome gift of a conscience. Conscience to know the difference between right and wrong according to the laws of God and laws of nature (nature that HE alone created)
Like that wonderful song says – Red Yellow Brown Black & White, we are all precious in HIS sight.
If we would all learn to love Jesus Christ with all our heart, soul & mind, and love each other as we love ourselves, what a WONDERFUL world it would be!
We would value each other, protect each other and care for one another, not out of obligation, but because of God’s love that dwells in us.💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
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November 10, 2022 at 1:37 pm
“we are made in the image of God. Absent this theological foundation, there is no reason to think human value is real.”
But what makes you think being made in the image of God gives humanity objective value? Why would whatever God values have any more meaning than what we ourselves value? His opinions would be just as subjective as ours; being all powerful and all knowing wouldn’t automatically mean his assignment of value would be anything other than him applying his own subjective opinion.
And the way God regards humanity in the Bible, it doesn’t say much for his assigning much intrinsic value for human life. Not only does he have no problem destroying human lives, committing genocide and the like, but he considers us worthless sinners and not a single person is good:
• Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
• Ecclesiastes 7:20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.
• Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.
• Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.”
• Romans 3:10-12 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
• Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
“At best, humans only have a subjective, extrinsic value; i.e. our value is derived from our own estimation of ourselves. Human beings value particular traits that they possess, and thus value the human beings who possess such traits (a circular, biased, and wholly subjective estimation).”
But isn’t that the way Christians think? Isn’t teaching self-hate the STARTING POINT of Christianity—to regard yourself as a worthless human being in desperate need of being saved because you are incapable of doing anything good on your own. Christianity NEEDS you to believe this…because if you don’t need saving, what’s the point of becoming a Christian, right?
And once you embrace this self-hate, it’s easy to transfer that devaluation of human worth to everyone else. It starts with “we’re sinners, but at least we’re saved,” which so often leads to a tacit “we’re better than you because we’re saved and you’re not,” which is a subjective devaluation of those who are not like you.
“Some human beings will be considered to be more valuable than others, and some will be deemed to have no value at all.”
But isn’t that inevitable? Aren’t we hardwired for that? After all, if you learned your own family members were brutally murdered, wouldn’t you become horrified, shattered, despondent, etc.? But how often do you burst into tears upon hearing that a family in, say, Nicaragua was gunned down? You have no choice but to automatically assign more value to some people over others.
“I think the future of the debate will be between those who affirm an extrinsic view of human value and those who hold to a nihilist view of value (denying the concept of human value altogether).”
I’m pretty sure you won’t find any secularist espousing such a view. Certainly not in the debate arena you refer to.
“There is no basis in a naturalistic, Darwinian worldview for human value. Value is subjective, and hence not real.”
As someone whose degree is in evolution science, I can assure you that claim is false. First, natural selection selects for behavior that promotes social cohesion in social species. That includes an appreciation for the value of others. Elephants, dolphins, monkeys and even rats demonstrate to varying degrees the same empathy and compassion humans possess. Any social species that doesn’t evolve some form of moral sense will lose the advantages of being a social species and go extinct. Thus, assigning value to others is hardwired into us by evolution. Nobody who studies evolution would ever come to your conclusion that there is no basis for a naturalistic worldview for human value!
Second, what makes you think subjective value isn’t real? After all, nobody can even identify objective values. A colleague of mine summed it up pretty well:
Even within Christianity there are tons and tons of different denominations and sects who all interpret the supposed “word of God” in different ways from a purely doctrinal standpoint. So even within the Christian faith, theistic morality is wholly subjective based on which particular sect or denomination you belong to.
Even within a single sect or denomination, it’s pretty much guaranteed that different preachers or even individual members will have their own specific interpretations as to just what their God wants them to do. Should you shun homosexuals or welcome them? Should you donate money to homeless people or is that just encouraging bad habits? Do women really need to be subject to their husbands’ will or not? Is it enough to just accept Jesus into your heart, or do you actually need to do good deeds and repent for your sins? Is it really harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, or is that just a metaphor? Does “turn the other cheek” mean you can’t own a gun for self-defense? Did God really just promise to “answer prayers” (and sometimes the answer is “no”) or did he actually promise to give “whatsoever we ask for in faith”? Is lusting after a woman in your heart really the same as committing adultery, or was Jesus just being metaphorical again? What’s the best way to “love thy neighbor as thyself” while still preventing transgender people from using the bathroom they feel most comfortable in? Is it OK to vote for somebody who claims to share your values if he talks about sexually assaulting women, mocks disabled people and lies all the time? What, actually, would Jesus do? And so on and so forth. Thus, theistic morality is wholly subjective based on the individual beliefs of each particular theist.
For theists that claim to get their morality from holy scriptures written thousands of years ago, many of the oldest commandments and moral codes from those books no longer apply today. The explanation for this is usually that those commandments were given for a specific group of people, that the culture and socio-economic conditions back then were different than they are today and/or that some sort of “new covenant” made those old commandments obsolete. It was OK to own slaves back then, but not today. It was commanded that disobedient children should be stoned to death back then, but we don’t need to follow that commandment today. Jews were required to keep kosher, but later Christians didn’t need to. All of which is to say that theistic morality can actually change over time and is wholly subjective based on the particular people to whom the moral commandments were given.
For all these reasons, I think that subjective secular morality is inevitably going to be a “superior” way to assess human value. After all, to paraphrase Stephen Weinberg, “With or without religion you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”
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