lecture

  • a deontological theory is act-focused » evaluates actions

    • non-consequential

  • uses the concept of moral duty n obligation, as its central idea

divine command theory

  • certain actions are morally correct/forbidden because God commands so

  • ‘an act X is wrong if and only if God forbids act X’

    • and vice versa

    • » ‘X is wrong ⬅➡ God forbids act X’

      • biconditional

    • which side is more fundamental for the other to be true? » euthyphro’s dilemma (Plato)

    • something is pious ⬅➡ the gods love it » do the gods love it because it’s pious or vice versa = euthyphro’s dilemma

  • God’s decision on actions is what makes them right/wrong

shorthand

  • 1. biconditional is true

  • 2. God’s commands create moral facts

potential problems

  1. the problem of reversal of values

  •     instance 1 » murder is wrong

    • instance 2 » murder is right (eg Abraham and Isaac)

  1. arbitrariness

  • does any moral truth have any objective value, as God could have chosen one which way or the other ie He could easily have said that loving your neighbour is wrong » eg like flipping a moral coin

  1. infantilism

  • DivCommT robs of us of the chance to develop morally

  • morally stagnant, like toddlers

  1. praising God

  • seems an inadequate grounds for praise, if we are praising Him for sticking to His own commands

Robert Adams

  • 1. facts about right/wrong or good/bad

  • 2. loving God

natural law theory

  • in simple: find out what’s natural » do what’s natural » avoid what’s unnatural

  • eg Roman Catholic Church on contraception

    • “humanae vitae” (Paul VI, 1968)

    • procreative

    • unitive

objections

  • Hume’s ‘Is-Ought’ gap

Thomistic natural law

  • “do good and avoid evil”

  • goods:

    • life

    • knowledge

    • society

    • procreation

  • modification:

    • 1. moral principle = “you ought”

    • 2. P is good

    • ∴ do P

    • thus you cannot apply the is-ought gap to Aquinas’ modified natural law

new natural law theorists

  • grizez

  • finnis

  • joseph boyle

  • basic human goods:

    • life

    • knowledge

    • play

    • aesthetic experience

    • friendship

    • marriage

    • religion

    • practical reasonableness

  • these can’t be broken down and are the fundamental parts of human wellbeing