Robert Adams on Goodness

In his meta-ethics, Robert Adams endeavors to understand the nature of goodness in accordance with a platonic-theological viewpoint, and then to represent the components of a life of morality and well-being. Hence, inspired by Kripke-Putnam theory, he firstly explains semantic roles of goodness, and then tries to find what best plays those roles. In his view, God is good itself and goodness of things relies on their resemblance to God; things resemblance to God as infinite good makes their excellence. Excellence is a non-instrumental goodness which makes things suitable objects of admiration, love, honor, and even worship. According to Adams, well-being of human life relies on his enjoyment of the excellent: on the one hand, enjoyment of activities in life, and on the other hand the excellence of those enjoyable activities. There are different kinds of excellences (finite goods), including moral values as well as rational, religious and aesthetical values.