The Divine Command Theory - Natural Law Ethics PDF

The Divine- RELIGION- Command BASED Theory (DCT) ETHICS  INTRODUCTION RELIGION AND MORALITY: IS THERE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGION AND MORALITY?  INTRODUCTION “If God does not exist, everything is permissible” – Dostoyevsky in The Brother’s Karamazov...

The Divine- RELIGION- Command BASED Theory (DCT) ETHICS  INTRODUCTION RELIGION AND MORALITY: IS THERE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGION AND MORALITY?  INTRODUCTION “If God does not exist, everything is permissible” – Dostoyevsky in The Brother’s Karamazov WILL PEOPLE BE MOTIVATED TO ACT MORALLY IF THERE IS NO IDEA OF RELIGION OR GOD? The Divine Command Theory is a moral theory that holds that what is right is whatever God (or a divinity) commands. THE Good actions are aligned with the will of a DIVINE- divinity and bad actions are contrary to its will. It is our duty to obey the laws of God COMMAN irrespective of the consequence or self- interest D THEORY (DCT) Most often The holy books of the various religious groups help determine the specific commands of god, other times some claim to receive the command directly from their god or divinity.  1. What do we make of some Muslim extremists who commit suicide bombings and other terrorist acts in the name of god? 2. What about some pastors who DISCUSSIO claim god has instructed them N TIME to have sex, bath or whip people to cleanse them of some evil spirits or problems? 3. How about some traditional believers who claim to have been told by a traditional priest to sleep with a virgin or a child to avert a curse or a disease?  The central problem is how we can determine or differentiate genuine commands of god from THE fake ones. CHALLE  Another challenge is that there are so many NGE religions with different ethics. Where there is conflict, which god should we listen to? THE BIG CAN WE MEASURE QUESTI THE MORALITY OF GOD’S COMMANDS? ON THE EUTHYPHRO/SOCRATIC DILEMMA Do the gods love what is holy (good, right) because it is holy or is it holy because the gods love it? NB: Appreciate the distinction and implication of the two parts of the question. Position 1: If God approves acts BECAUSE they are morally good, then they must have been good BEFORE GOD SAID THE THEY WERE!!!! EUTHYPH RO/SOCR ATIC DILEMMA MORALITY IS THEREFORE INDEPENDENT OF GOD.  THE EUTHYPHRO/SOCRATIC DILEMMA Position 2:If acts are good because God wills them … …Then Morality is dependent on God. Which means God could ask us to do ANYTHING, and it would be a good act. WOULD THAT MEAN RAPE, MURDER, ETC. WOULD BE GOOD IF GOD ORDERED IT? NATURAL LAW ETHICS  NATURAL LAW ETHICS Natural law Ethics is a theory in ethics and philosophy that says that human beings possess intrinsic values that govern their reasoning and behaviour. Natural law maintains that these rules of right and wrong are inherent in people and are not created by society or court judges.  NATURAL LAW ETHICS  Natural law holds that there are universal moral standards that are inherent in humankind throughout all time, and these standards should form the basis of a just society.  Human beings are not taught natural law per se, but rather “discover” it by consistently making choices for good instead of evil.  Some schools of thought believe  EXAMPLES OF NATURAL LAW IN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION  Aristotle (384–322 BCE) is considered by many to be the father of natural law—argued that what is “just by nature” is not always the same as what is “just by law.”  Aristotle believed that there is a natural justice that is valid everywhere with the same force; that this natural justice is positive and does  EXAMPLES OF NATURAL LAW IN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION  For St. Thomas Aquinas (1224/25–1274 CE), natural law and religion were inextricably connected.  He believed that natural law "participates" in the divine "eternal" law.  Aquinas thought eternal law to be that rational plan by which all creation is ordered, and natural law is the way that human beings participate in the eternal law.  He further posited that the fundamental  EXAMPLES OF NATURAL LAW IN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION  The author C.S. Lewis (1898–1963) explained it this way: “According to the religious view, what is behind the universe is more like a mind than anything else we know… it is conscious and has purposes and prefers one thing to another. There is a 'something' which is directing the universe, and which appears to me as a law  KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. The theory of natural law says that humans possess an intrinsic sense of right and wrong that governs our reasoning and behaviour. 2. The concepts of natural law are ancient, stemming from the times of Plato and Aristotle. 3. Natural law is constant throughout time and across the globe because it is based on human nature, not on culture or customs. 4. This is opposed to theories that laws are socially constructed and created by people. 5. Examples of natural laws exist in several fields from philosophy to economics.  NATURAL LAW THEORY VS. THE DIVINE COMMAND THEORY Natural law theorists disagree with the divine command theory. They maintain that god commands something because it is moral, not the other way around. Your religion may provide your reasons for action, but moral actions must also be capable of being justified by reasons beyond religion.  NATURAL LAW THEORY VS. THE DIVINE COMMAND THEORY According to the Natural Law Theory, morality is grounded in rational human nature rather than being relative to god’s commands or to personal feelings or cultural norms. They believe we act morally for the same reasons God or the gods do.  FINAL REMARKS AND QUESTIONS THE END