ipl-logo

The Divine Command Theories

1134 Words5 Pages
Register to read the introduction…

Any given answer that can be given by the divine command theorist seems to suppose the existence of at least one norm outside of God 's commanded will. In the textbook, Darwall provides, and then refutes, the following possible answers. 1) We should do what God commands because God is omniscient and omnibenevolent and he is aware of what we should do given any particular situation. This answer, however, leads to the conclusion that the best thing to do in the particular situation already exists, independent of whether or not God commands us to do it, the fact that God commands us to do it simply makes it the case that God chooses to share this knowledge of the best thing to do in a situation with humans. This contradicts the assumption that God is the creator of all norms. (Based on Darwall 's Philosphical Ethics p. 42-44). 2) God created us, therefore we must follow his commands out of gratitude. Again, we face the problem that there appears to be a norm that exists independently from his command: that you should show gratitude, which seems inconsistent. (Darwall 's Philosophical Ethics p. 44). 3) God is superior to us, therefore we should follow God 's command. The problem with this answer is the same as that in the previous question, namely that the fact that we should follow the commands of our superiors appears to be a norm that exists outside of God 's command. (Darwall 's Philosophical Ethics p. 45). All these answers can be taken to have the genralized form “God is/has X, therefore we should follow his command”, where X is a particular quality, however, all these answers also lead to the conclusion that “We should follow the command of anything that is/has X”, which implies a norm that exists independent of God …show more content…

The theological voluntarist might answer this by saying norms can be known through religious texts such as the Bible, Quran, Torah, etc. This is problematic because these texts, although seeming to contain the same points upon first glance, contain fundamental contradictions. Examples of this can be seen in the Abrahamic religions where Islam forbids alcohol, while Judaism and Christianity don 't. Judaism and Islam forbid the consumption of pork, while Christianity does not. These contradictions only get worse as you move farther from the Semitic tradition. If the theological voluntarist claims that these norms can be sensed through our internal feelings about morality, he is forced to disregard the various disagreements regarding norms, which he simply can 't

Show More
Related
1206 Words | 5 Pages

Weekly Assignment 2 1. What, if anything, morally justified Mr. Meiks’s choice to kill the Thurman sheriff? Following the classic divine command theory, the only possible thing that could morally justify Mr. Meiks’s choice to kill the Thurman sheriff is that he was protecting is divine mission from God. God supposedly commanded to him to complete his mission, to tell no one outside the family about it, and to protect the mission.

Read More
419 Words | 2 Pages

the God’s wanted. He stated, “Father, the God’s implant intelligence in humans. Of all our properties, that is the supreme one. I lack the power and the training to tell you you’re wrong, and that’s just as well. But perhaps a second opinion will be valuable.”

Read More
100 Words | 1 Pages

In the article “God and Morality” by Caroline Wilkerson, Wilkerson questions whether or not one’s ethics are independent of religion, pondering if it is just a man man-made concept focused on goals like survival and reproduction. Wilkerson attempts to explain that the moral codes that a particular religious god encourages others to follow may be in fact “arbitrary” based on her reading of Plato’s dialog Euthyphro. In the end, she concludes by saying that even though a god’s moral code may be “erratic,” it is better to follow their moral code rather than following what society considers to be

Read More
486 Words | 2 Pages

“There is a lot of talk these days about dysfunctional families. These are families that simply don't work, that are troubled in one way or the other. They do more harm than good, we are told, and they are a blight on our time. From all the hype about families lately, one might think they are a fairly new thing.” This quote from The All Too Human gods, written by Rebecca Christian and Linda Mazunik, an elucidative piece about the Greek and roman gods being a dysfunctional family shows that even the best of people can be imperfect.

Read More
442 Words | 2 Pages

And Colossians 3:17 reinforces that: " And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Simply Put: to "give thanks in all circumstances" is to live gratefully. Whatever we do should somehow reflect how grateful we are. Moreover, whatever we do, should reflect Christ.

Read More
123 Words | 1 Pages

Euthyphro’s Dilemma is when Socrates asks Euthyphro, “Does God love goodness because it is good, or is it good because God loves it?” Euthyphro’s Dilemma is that God determines what is good and evil, right and wrong. This dilemma challenges the Divine Command theory because according to Euthyphro’s Dilemma we would be obligated to do something wrong because God commanded it. This conflicts with the Divine Command theory because it would imply that cruelty could be morally right if God told us to do so. The idea that cruelty can be morally right goes up against the belief in the Divine Command Theory because it proposes that an action's status that is morally good is equivalent to whether it is commanded by God

Read More
893 Words | 4 Pages

This is so because it becomes difficult to know whether moral goodness is independent of the will of God or if it is as a result of His will. The Euthyphro dilemma offers two intensely differing sides. On one side of the argument, theorists are of the opinion that morality is whatever God wills. This position then brings into question the goodness of God’s will if His command vindicates what is wrong. Arguing that goodness is the determined by God shows that what is rights is so because God wills it to be right.

Read More
3638 Words | 15 Pages

Since the golden rule does not actually specify what we should do, this vagueness of the golden rule points to the reciprocity of considering people. For example, it would also not make sense for me to criticize someone else for, say, breaking the speed limit if I then went and broke it myself, for Kant, it is a sure sign of its subjectivism, it does not indicate the essence or the content of morality, therefore its inadequacy as a foundation of moral philosophy. In this thesis, I will explicate CI2 expresses Kant’s genuinely universal moral system requires that I do not break speed limit, not because of the psychological concerning or consequences, but I treat others as humanity or ends, not merely means. (See my further discussion in

Read More
961 Words | 4 Pages

To be impartial means to be fair and unbiased. As a health advocate it is important to be impartial because the job puts individuals in a position to speak up for a large community. Therefore, it is important to make sure a health advocates personal views do not largely affect the message being delivered because it is their job to present information based on effective research, so the message delivered is meaningful and reliable. Being impartial as a health advocate involves understanding and working well with the opposing team that is not in agreement with the message that is being delivered. Additionally, it is important to treat the opposing team fairly so there can be an understanding of what needs to be accomplished as a health advocate

Read More
1634 Words | 7 Pages

Thesis Statement: Origin of Morality Outline A.Universal Ethics 1.Karl Barth, The Command of God 2.Thomas Aquinas, The Natural Law 3.Thomas Hobbes, Natural Law and Natural Right 4.Immanuel Kant, The Categorical Imperative B.Morality and Practical Reason 1.Practical Reason a.Practical Reason and Practical Reasons C.Evolution of Morality 1.What makes Moral Creatures Moral 2.Explaining the Nature of Moral Judgments F. Answering Questions 1. What is the origin of Morality: Religion or Philosophy? 2. What does religion say about morality?

Read More
1385 Words | 6 Pages

Evaluating the morality within ourselves they evaluate morality on the principle of what is wrong or right. As equally

Read More
1218 Words | 5 Pages

The last theory is Aristotle’s virtue ethics which states that we should move from the concern towards good action and to focus on the concern with good character. This paper argues that Aristotle’s virtue ethics is better than the other ethical theories. The divine command theory says that what is morally right and what is morally wrong is determined by God and God alone. People who follow the divine command theory believe that God is the creator of all things, therefore, he must also be the creator of morally right and wrong acts.

Read More
1596 Words | 7 Pages

“In order to obey authority, the obeying person has to accept that it is legitimate for the command to be made of them.” There

Read More
1163 Words | 5 Pages

and instead asked, “What is the right thing to do?” (Rachels 174). However, if applied, virtue

Read More
1666 Words | 7 Pages

Men make laws to instill order in a society and prevent chaos in any shape or form. Naturally, laws will always be somewhat unjust because it is impossible to consistently construct laws that directly and equally benefit all members of a society. There will always be a majority that makes the laws and a minority that has to obey the laws. Although laws are usually the standard of morality by which we live by, they must be disobeyed in certain situations. These situations are, but not limited to, an undemocratic formation of aforementioned laws, laws that are inherently unjust according to human law which can be synonymous with God’s law.

Read More

More about The Divine Command Theories

Related Topics

Open Document