PHIL1011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Divine Command Theory, Secular Ethics, Theism
23 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Ethics
06/ 04/ 17
An introduction to ethics
- What is the philosophy of ethics?
11/04/17
Some terminological/conceptual review
a) Ethical claims are a species of normative claims
'What should I believe about the theory of evolution?"
b) We must distinguish normative from descriptive.
Review: Why should I be morally good?
• The Gyges story suggests we should rule out one common answer - that
we should be good because (...)
• One reason to rule it out is that it seems clearly false!
• Reading: "Ring of Gyges," "The Republic," Plato
• The Point: Would we only be good because we're being "watched?"
If, like in Glaucons case, we find a ring that allows us to do x without
being seen would this mean that all would be permitted?
A super enforcer?
ON SECULAR ETHICS, E.G SUPERNATURALISM
The Euthyphro problem
" Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved
by the gods? - Socrates asks Euthyphro in Plato's dialogue Euthyphro.
• Ok, so maybe god isn't the (whole) answer to why we should be good.
• But God could still be highly relevant to ethics.
• Reading: "Ethics" Harry J. Gensler 1998
• The Point: An examination of Supernaturalism, that is, that moral
judgments describe god's will. For example, calling something
"good" means god desires it. Ethics is based on religion, according to
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Ethics
a SN. This reading describes what it is to be a supernaturalist and
then gives some objections to discuss how ethics and religion might
connect even if supernaturalism is wrong.
• 2X VERSIONS OF SUPERNATURALISM BSN AND MSN
Version 1: Meaning Supernaturalism
For the supernaturalist, X is good means God desires X (etc)
so, by the same reasoning if X is bad this means that God prefers you refrain
from X
Objection: MSN implies something odd about the moral judgements of atheists.
Suppose Jackie Treehorn is an atheist. He says: "God doesn't exist but it was
wrong to steal the Dude's rug." It kind of says that God doesn't exist but he has
desires. It's an internal contradiction, if god doesn't exist then god doesn't have
any desires.
According to supernaturalism, atheists, when they make moral judgements, they
are uttering a contradiction.
It seems plausible that atheists can make moral judgements.
Thus, a tweaked meaning of supernaturalism could be to say that MSN*: X is
good means God desires X - at least when spoken by a theist.
MSN implies that atheists cannot have genuine moral disagreements with
theists!
Apparent moral disagreements between theists and atheists become instances
of "talking past one another." That seems implausible.
Version 2: Because Supernaturalism.
- a view that tends to be more attractive to people who believe in god
BSN: if x is good, this is because God desires X. (etc)
I don't
understand
the
difference
between
meaning
supernatural
ism and
because
supernatural
ism??
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Ethics
This avoids the problem with MSN - it isn't about the meaning of moral
statements, but about the metaphysical basis of moral facts. Which seems more
fundamental for the theist anyway.
The Euthyphro problem introduced ( as a response to the Divine Command
Theory)
That is, - the belief that's what is moral and what is immoral, is commanded
by the divine. ( Ethics are made by god/ a divine being)
Socrates: Do the gods love holiness because it is holy, or is it holy because they
love it?
This produces a philosophical dilemma. Put simply, are right actions right
because God commands them, or are right actions commanded by God because
they are right?
If they are good because god commands then the entire concept of
goodness becomes vacuous and arbitrary. What if god suddenly decided
that torturing kittens was the ethical thing to do?
Then, if god commands things because they are good, then it means god is
not omnipotent and that they were created before God. How is it then that
God is the maker of all? Is there someone higher than him?
Summary
• Divine Command Theory says that God's will is the source of goodness (
She is a Good-Maker)
• But the Euthyphro problem convinces many theists that Divine Command
Theory is incompatible with God being good herself
• So many theists give up
A case study : Gustav Doré, 1866. Abraham and Isaac Climb Mt.Moriah
Whatever, your religious beliefs, the Euthyphro problem should make you
interested in investigating ethics without religious assumptions.
In conclusion: Two worries about secular ethics
1. Q "Secular ethics says that we must ignore the bible"
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