Divine command theory

Does morality depend on God? Is it God’s commands that make actions right or wrong? These arguments were originally inspired by the story of Euthyphro, written by Plato, where a dilemma, commonly known as Euthyphro’s dilemma, stems from the dialogue between the two main characters. It poses the question of whether an action is pious because it is loved by the Gods, or if it’s loved by the Gods because it is pious. As time went by, a modernized model of this argument came to life and from that, a new philosophical theory was introduced: the “Divine Command Theory” (DCT). In this essay, I plan to explain what Divine Command Theory is, propose an argument that is usually offered against this theory which is that God can possibly command us to…

In this essay, I have decided to explain and evaluate the divine command theory (DCT). The divine command theory focuses on the conception that God’s commandments are the foundation of ethical choices (Holt, T 2008). The theory states that whatsoever God wills as moral is moral and what God forbids is immoral. (Rachels, J., S 2007). The theory is very clear on its views in that if you want to know if something is moral go to God those that live by this theory look to religious book such as the…

Divine Command Theory is a normative theory that states we should follow the will of god. A similar variation to Euthyphro’s question to Socrates is; does god commands what is right because it is right, or God commands what is right? This question can be quite confusing, and can be difficult to explain which of the two corresponds with Divine Command Theory. After carefully analyzing both scenarios, it can be concluded that a Divine Command Theorist cannot choose one. Therefore, let’s examine…

Divine Command Theory is the belief that an action is morally good if and only if that action is commanded by God. This means that actions not directly commanded by God are wrong, such as murder, stealing, adultery, etc. The way this is worded is very similar to virtue theory, which states that an action is morally good if and only if the action is good for the person doing the action. Rather than basing the morality of a situation on whether it is just or pleasure-making for other people, it…

Gensler: Divine Command Theory Gensler’s main argument for the Divine Command Theory is to argue the moral reasons for the existence of God. He gives the premises that everyone knows objective moral duties. Then comes the idea that if there are objective moral duties there has to be something that makes them moral law. For this the only answer that makes sense is God because it cannot be a person or other individuals in society since we do not have the authority to tell someone is they do…

The divine command theory is the belief of what is right is a matter of God’s will, this theory beliefs in the central idea that God’s will is important to morality. In addition to this, the divine command theory believes that what is morally right is commanded by God and what is morally wrong is also commanded by God, which therefore means that morality depends on religion. Furthermore, the divine command theory is a meta ethical view about what makes a moral claim, recognising that God’s will…

by John E. Hare, is based on three lectures Hare gave at Calvin College in which he presents and defends his version of Divine Command Theory. The books is separated into three essays. The first essay gives the historical context of Hare 's theory. In the second Hare lays out his theory. In the third he defends his theory, and compares it to his understanding of Kant 's theory of ethics. Hare argues that the history of moral philosophy is a story of compromise. There exist two extreme camps, the…

Judaism, Christianity, or Islam (Pew Research Center, 2012). The significance of these religions is due to the fact that they are the most popular monotheistic religions - religions who worship one god as the supreme creator or prime-mover. Among these 3.8 billion people there will of course be degrees of conviction with some believing that God is all that really matters, while others will lean more towards secular humanist views. Those that hold God above all else generally believe that God is…

steal because that is what your god wants is called Divine Command Theory. Divine Command Theory says that “An act is morally required because it is commanded by god, and immoral just because god forbids it.”(Shafer-Landau, 67) One premise of Divine Command Theory is that for a valid moral law to be created the creator must be perfect, because imperfect beings would make mistakes. I am not sold on the idea that imperfection cannot make perfection. Let’s take a look at when a different set of…

The Divine Command Theory is a meta-ethical theory that attempts to answer these questions and provide a framework for the connection between God and morality. There are some prima facie advantages to the Divine Command Theory however; arguments against the divine command theory provide a compelling refutation.…