Ethics: theories and applications -- divine command theory

Divine Command Theory

the belief that right and wrong are determined by God's commands

Euthyraphro Dilemma

Is what is morally good commanded by God because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by God? is something good and just because god loves it or does god love it because it is good and just

Categorical Imperative

A concept developed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant as an ethical guideline for behavior. commands or moral laws all persons must follow, regardless of their desires or extenuating circumstances. " you should do this".

Universality Principle

Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. am I willing to make my action a universal law/truth and what would the world look like if it was

People as ends, not means to an end

rational human beings should be treated as an end in themselves and not as a means to something else. The fact that we are human has value in itself. do not objectify or use people to achieve a goal

3 regulating principles

Categorical imperative
universal maxim
people as ends, not a means to an end

3 sources of laws for ethics

1. theonomous
2. heteronomus
3. autonomous

Theonomous Laws

god given laws. one is not obligated to to follow god; logically speaking you cannot prove or disprove god's existence, therefore you do not logically have to follow those rules.

heteronomous laws

human made laws. one is not obligated to follow these because logically, just because a bunch of people are saying something is right does not actually mean it's right.

autonomous Laws

self-imposed laws. as a rational being you are obligated to follow these. autonomy = free will = doing duty for duty's sake. the individual is an autonomous rational self. think for yourself

Enlightnement

The Age of Reason.
European intellectual movement, emphasizes individuals over institutions and tradition. man's emergence from self-imposed immaturity.
Kant: having the courage to think for oneself. mankind's final coming of age. the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state of ignorance and error

idealism

you believe logic is more real than material stuff. logic is reality

Augustine + truths

truth exists in the mind of god of abraham/isaac

Platinous

truths exist in the mind of the "one"

hume

the great skeptic. challenges religion and science
empiricist: looks for causal relationships; cannot see causality for a God. he maintains we cannot know knowledge of God, ourselves, the world, after life
impossibility of causality
correlation does not equal causation

newton + determinism

is your behavior predetermined? is free will an illusion?
all events, including human actions and decisions, are determined by prior causes and natural laws, leaving no room for free will or randomness.

Aquinas

natural law; 5 proofs; empirical

Anslem

ontological proof for existence of god established by pure reason

Kant's moral proof for the existence of god

not based on logic or emotions, built upon ethical commands
the existence of moral law implies a moral lawgiver, and that for justice and moral order to be ultimately fulfilled, an afterlife and a being (God) capable of ensuring this moral justice must exist. This idea connects moral duty with the need for God as a guarantor of ultimate moral good

Kant's critique of Pure reason

the only truths we can have with absolute certainty are mathematical truths
implication on god: not crazy to think there could be a god; reasonable to believe, not to say you know

concepts of a god (abrahamic religions)

one eternal, immutable spirit
personality force (will, intellect, self-awareness) not cosmic
unique: god's essential being transcends all-aseity
holy= separate from all evil
omnipotent: all-powerful creature, sustainer and taker of life, omniscient, omnipresent
sovereign
god is goodness: god is the standard
god is the creator of everything
organic link between god and god's creation

doctrine of imago dei

the belief that God created humanity in his image and likeness, that we bear character traits and relationships that we inherited from Him. we are created in the image of god and somewhat; god is rational and moral therefore we are too

Hume's ought/can distinction

ought implies can. if you ought to do something, you should be able to do it. ought = can = free will

omnipotence

something of the mind of god is expressed in creation ex. being made in god's image = our math is god

augutine perspective

share truth that already exists in the mind of god
to ask god to be illogical is impossible because god is logic
god is goodness = it is impossible for him to be something he is not
god nature is stopping god

neoplatinous perspective

there is evil because of the god "the one" = all exists in the mind of
spiritualizes plato's world of forms

Infinite Regress

The idea that there is no first cause in the infinite line of causes extending into the past; causes are infinitely dependent on dependent causes.

Kant's Practical Reasoning

there is an objective moral basis/metaphysical basis basis for his ideas of reality which we can know to be true

kant's response to hume

cannot prove the existence of god, cant disprove ether
believe even science is impossible
nothing can be known
Kant's metaphysics agrees with hume

basis of Kantian ethics

1. love for duty
2. duty for duty's sake
if we do something that is right, we can do it for the wrong reasons

revelation

divine action + apprehension of divine action
god delivering us his message
god's self-disclosure
movement of god in our direction. shows being nature of god

strengths of divine command theory

1. consistent with ethical monotheism
2. clear, objective unchanging rules

consistent with ethical monotheism

one god who is in charge of ethics
may provide theists with a potentially authoritative and objective source of morality

clear, objective, unchanging rules

divine command theory provides an objective moral standard. the ethical rules are made by god, not humanity and are not subject to change.
potential consistency and objectivity and certainty about morality

hermeneutics

bible must be understood within the context it was written. the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, especially of the Bible or literary texts.
many of its rules contradict themselves - how do we know which ca=ommands are still relevant

Weaknesses

1. assorted
2. god is corrupt
3. Dawkins
4. biblical ethics are outdated
5. misinterpretation of the commander

dawkins's critique of god

Richard Dawkins argues against the existence of God by positing that complex beings, like a designer God, would require an even more complex explanation than the universe itself. He contends that natural processes, particularly evolution by natural selection, provide a more plausible and simpler explanation for the complexity of life, making the idea of a supernatural creator unnecessary and improbable.

god is corrupt

if moral rightness is solely based on God's commands, then morality becomes arbitrary—God could command anything, even morally abhorrent acts, and they would still be considered "good." This raises the concern that God's nature could be corrupt, undermining the idea of a perfectly good and just deity, and making morality dependent on the whims of an arbitrary being rather than intrinsic principles of right and wrong.
corrupt religious history (crusades, Spanish inquisition,slavery, etc. in his name)

assorted

kant's argument against god's existence in his first critique (cannot prove or disprove god)
humans belief has utility
the problem of evil: no adequate solution despite augustines attempts

good life according to Kant

the most desirable life for a human to lead vs. worthiest or most virtuous life
- The only good is good will
- Good is only good if it is done out good will and provides no personal gain
- An act is not moral if you enjoy doing it
- Moral acts are performed out of duty and obligation
- Reason dictates what is good

faring well

moral doing no bar to material success
material goodness

doing right

doing right is no gaurentee of faring well
moral goodness

Good Will (Kant)

the only thing that is good without qualification.

kant's argument against consequentialism

good outcome does not outweigh wickedness of intent
if we are to beileve/feel guilt we must actually be responisble for the terrible outcome

Just War Theory

the theoretical criteria under which it is morally permissible, or "just," for a state to go to war and the methods by which a just war might be fought - given from god.

credible commander

argument against god: evil and suffering
causality : Aquinas and Aristotle: end of chain of causality = uncaused cause
just war theory proves you can utilize god to explain away anything
is there a good god?

pushbacks to critiques of god

credible commander
contextual considerations
changing commander
compound/corrupt commander
capricious commander

contextual considerations

god never changes, his message was always pure, the context was not always optimal to be interpreted correctly
ignorance, human culture, cognition, constraints
humans have only gotten smarter and more evolved
people learn then change due to knowledge

infinite god

there is no gotcha moment with god, he cannot be exhausted

ignorance + god's message

people used to be really stupid and interpreted his message the wrong way

innaccurate history of text

think : any time a religious teaching changes, the teachers got it wrong

changing commander

" the commander changed" "old test. god v. new test. god are different"
why would god change?
he is all knowing, all powerful, all good
he has nothing to learn why would HE change

compound/ corrupt commander

god is a composit of good and bad
hegelian cencept
reason there is evil: god has 2 sides, god mase evil because he is both goodness and evil

capricious commander

god can go what ever he likes
god picks and choses what he wants to save/destroy
god does not need our approval
god needs no one/nothing
anselm

Kant vs. Hume

Kant's main issue with Hume was Hume's skepticism about human knowledge, particularly his rejection of causality as a necessary connection. Hume argued that we only observe constant conjunction (one event following another) and that causality is a habit of thought, not an inherent property of the world. Kant, in contrast, believed that causality is a fundamental category of the mind that structures our experience of reality. He aimed to reconcile empiricism and rationalism by arguing that while all knowledge begins with experience, the mind actively shapes this experience using a priori concepts, like causality. Thus, Kant saw Hume's skepticism as incomplete, overlooking the active role of the mind in constructing knowledge.

naturalistic fallacy

The naturalistic fallacy is the philosophical error of trying to derive moral conclusions from purely factual or natural premises—essentially, conflating what is with what ought to be. Popularized by G.E. Moore, it criticizes attempts to define "good" in terms of natural properties (such as pleasure, survival, or evolutionary fitness), arguing that moral concepts cannot be reduced to or equated with natural facts without losing their distinct normative meaning.

kant and history

does not matter

Hume's skepticism

he thinks that much of our alleged knowledge essentially involves beliefs that cannot be rationally justified and that hence much of our alleged knowledge is not knowledge at all.

Kant's moral postulates

free will, after life, God (moral proof),

free will

God's gift to human beings of the freedom and ability to choose what to do
freedom is necessary to assume because of our our experience of moral obligation and descriptive aspects
how could people be responsible or have a duty if they are not able or not free to fulfill their duty or respond to moral command

after life

supreme good = virtue +happiness
there is no perfect justice in this life, but it is reasonable to believe there is an afterlife with one
moral law commands us ro strive for perfect good, this implies an indefinate progress towards this ideal

Kant's moral proof of god

while empirical evidence for God is unattainable (as Hume argued), the existence of moral law within us necessitates a divine moral lawgiver to ensure the ultimate fulfillment of justice, bridging the gap between moral duty and the highest good