PHI-2630 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Consequentialism, Divine Command Theory, Universalizability
Document Summary
The principle of universalizability: a moral statement that applies in one situation must apply in all other situations that are relevantly similar. The principle of impartiality: the welfare and interests of each individual should be given the same weight as all others. Divine command theory: the view that an action is morally right if (and because) god commands it. Suppose that action a is morally right and that god commands a. Option 1: god commands a because it is morally right. God doesn"t determine what is right and wrong, he merely tells us. Option 2: a is morally right because god commands it. God doesn"t have reasons for believing that a is morally right. The claim that god is good becomes superfluous. Extrinsic value: the value that something has only insofar as it is conducive to something else. Examples of things that are extrinsically valuable: Intrinsic value: the value that something has in itself, for its own sake.
