Divine Command Theory

Deontology = The judgement of morality bases on an action’s adherence to a set of rules or duties rather than on its consequences.

Example - in trolley problem it would be wrong to pull the lever in order to kill the 1 person as you would not be adhering to the moral rule of not killing innocent people despite the consequence being worse.

Consequentialism = the judgement of morality based solely on the consequences of an action.

Example - The moral thing to do in the trolley problem would be to pull the lever despite the fact that you would be killing an innocent person which is immoral however it would nevertheless be the ethical thing to do as the consequences/outcome is better.

Pluralism = the existence of multiple religions with different beliefs and values. 

Euthyphro Dilemma:

“Is conduct right because the gods command it, or do the gods command it because it is right?” - Plato

Plato suggests it is either:

1) God commands something because it is morally right.

2) Something is morally right because it is commanded by God. Arbitrariness problem

Adam’s modification of Divine Command Theory:

• God would never command cruelty - Criticisms of DCT which argue the arbitrariness problem disregard the omnibenevolent nature of God, meaning God would not command cruelty.

• Morality is an objective and non-natural fact - It exists independently of human views and cannot be explained in reference to the human sciences.

• Divine Command Theory provides a ‘bulwark against demoralisation’ - humans derive strength and energy from seeing their lives as contributing to a larger purpose.

A religious ‘believer’s concept of ethical wrongness and permittedness’ are developed “within the framework of of the assumption that God loves us” - Adams