PHIL 2103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Divine Command Theory
7 May 2018
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• Why be moral?
• Morality and religion
o Three assumptions
▪ 1. Religious belief is needed for moral motivation
▪ 2. God is the ontological ground (i.e., source) of morality
▪ 3. Religion is an essential source of moral guidance
▪
o 1 is implausible
• Connecting objective morality to god
o 1. Morality can be objective only if God exists
o 2. God does not exist
o 3. Therefore, morality cannot be objective
• OR…
o 1. If God does’t eist, the ojetive oralit does’t eist
o 2. Objective morality does exist
o 3. Therefore, God exists
• One argument for thinking God to be the source of morality
o 1. Every law requires a lawmaker
o 2. Therefore, the moral law requires a lawmaker
o 3. Humans cannot be the author of the moral law (since we are fallible)
o 4. If humans cannot be the author of the moral law, then God is its author
o 5. Therefore, God is the author of the moral law
• Divine command theory
o An act is morally required just because it is commanded by God, and immoral just
because God forbids it
o Does God command us to do certain actions because they are morally right, or are
actions morally right because God commands them?
▪ If something is moral just because God commands it, then in theory God could
say rape is morally right
• What if the answer to the previous dilemma is neither
o Suppose God exists and is perfectly good. Then it seems we could say this
▪ God’s oads are good, ot eause God oads the, ut eause God
is good.
Writing assignment due next Monday
Ethical relativism/ethical objectivism what is the difference
The next question is subjective. Whatever your view is and the reasons for it (no weak reasons that were
presented in class)
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