Divine Command Theory

1100 Words5 Pages

1. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Divine Command Theory. Give a strong, well-supported argument in favor of (or opposed to) DCT for ethical decision-making.
According to the Divine Command Theory, the moral limitations are given to people by a divine being or beings. Any actions deemed good by the words of God can be considered moral while those rejected by God or gods is immoral and wrong. Nearly all the monotheistic and polytheistic religions like Islam, Judaism, Buddhism or Hinduism conform to the Divine Command Theory. Christianity does not directly relate to Divine Command Theory, however, implicitly it also follows the Divine Command Theory, as the existence of moral commandment independent of God is a contrast to the omnipotence …show more content…

Explain the ethical theory of Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, or Immanuel Kant, primarily concerning morality and justice. Include contextual/background factors that shaped the theory. Also, tell why you agree or disagree with it, providing a present-day illustration to support your position.
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher in Eighteenth-century who presented the Theory of perception. Kant has been a central figure in modern Ethics and has influenced subjects like Metaphysics, Epistemology, ethics, political theory and aesthetics. Kant was of the view that the world as we know it is independent of the human concept of it and that mind is the source of morality and ethics.
For his theory of Morality, Kant presented three formulations based on the principle of universalizability. The principle of universalizability states that all good actions must be applicable to anyone. If a contradiction occurs when the action cannot be called good. Based on this principle Kant proposed that all good actions must be motivated by duty or goodwill, termed as the formulation of goodwill. According to Kant, the only genuinely moral thing is a goodwill. In his formulation of humanity, Kant states that humans can never be used as a means to an end but rather should be viewed as an end themselves. This point is used to argue against activities like extramarital affairs, Prostitution, and pornography. The final formulation states that people are bound by the laws of morality by their own free