PHL 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Divine Command Theory, Physical Law, Egotism
Document Summary
Phl 201 - week 8 - lecture 16. People generally want to do the right thing. Need to find the right way to do everything. Evidence that we care about doing the right thing. An action is morally right if it conforms to god"s commands. Not always capable of discovering moral truth. 1 of the following must be true. God"s commands to conform to what"s morally correct. God"s commands cause something to be what"s morally correct. Universe is a moral place with conscious beings. #1: morality would exist independently of god, making god"s commanding incidental to its rightness. #2: god"s command would be arbitrary (no reason to believe/worship) Exploration is circular if 1 is substantiated with god"s goodness. If right/wrong aren"t independent of god"s will, god has no reason to prefer 1 over the other. Ex: god telling you to kill a child. If they"re independent, we no longer have divine command theory.
