Divine Command Theory Research Paper

The Divine and Command Theory states that an action is right or wrong if God commands it. Divine Command Theorists would say that anything God commands is morally correct, but do not like the fact that cruelty or suffering could be morally right. They believe that any command God gives, He is commanding it because it is morally correct. Meaning that this is the better option for us, but this is where I

The divine command theory states that “An act is morally required just because it is commanded by God and immoral just because God forbids it” (Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, p.67). In interviewing an Elder of a local Jehovah’s Witness congregation on the ethics involved in religion, he agreed that the divine command theory is correct, and that there are many commands and things that are forbidden in the bible that are considered to be God’s standards for the way we live our lives. But, when asked the modified version of the Euthyphro Question: is an action morally right because God commands it, or does God command an action because it is morally right, (Shafer-Landau, The Ethical Life, p.57) he picked the latter. Despite agreeing with the statement that the divine command theory makes, picking the latter is not uncommon even if the first affirms the theory. The statement that God commands an action because it is morally right, “implies that God did not invent morality, but rather recognized an existing moral law and then commanded us to obey it” (Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, p.67-68). This does not make the Elder’s message wrong, in fact most theists don’t follow the divine command theory. This is based on the fact that if the theory were true, whatever God says is a command, and therefore morally right, but God could have said that rape, murder, and stealing is morally right if that was the line of thinking.

According to Paley are commanded by God when we feel obligated to do something that is given by a divine motive. We can figure out what is a divine motive because a divine motive would not hinder the entrance into heaven. This is a decent claim, but it is unsuccessful because of the two reasons discuss. The first reason being other monotheistic Gods like the Islamic God and the second reason being feeling a divine motive to do reprehensible things such as mass killings in the name of

The Divine Command theory of ethics is a theory that states that an act is right or wrong and good or bad based on whether or not God commands or prohibits us from doing it. This means that the only thing that makes an action morally wrong is because God says it is. There are two sides to this theory; the restricted and the unrestricted. The restricted theory basically says that an action is obligatory if and only if it is good and God commanded it; the unrestricted theory states that an act is only obligatory if it is commanded by God, it is not obligatory if it is prohibited by God and it is optional if and only if God has not commanded nor prohibited it.

is sound to reason that piety and moral goodness are implicit in anything God commands.

In this paper, I will discuss about the Divine Command Theory and Euthyphro Problem and show how the Euthyphro Problem makes the Divine Command Theory morality arbitrary. Also, I will discuss why one does not have to reject the belief in God due to the Divine Command Theory cannot give a satisfactory answer to the Euthyphro Problem. First, I will define what the Divine Command Theory is and discuss its attractive features that answer the problem about the objectivity of ethnics. Second, I will define the Euthyphro Problem. Also, I will discuss how the Euthyphro Problem makes the Divine Command Theory morality arbitrary and show how it makes the doctrine of God’s goodness meaningless. Finally, I will discuss why one does not have to reject the belief in God just because one rejects the Divine Command Theory.

The “Divine Command” theory is the interpretation that morality is suggested to be dependent upon God, and that we are obedient to God’s commands. However, John Arthur claims that the theory is not right because he does not believe that God commands are right if not commanded by God. This theory states that religion is necessary for morality because without God there would be no wrong or right. If moral laws are not factually correct or provable, then they are either man-made or authorized by God. John Arthur debates that the Divine Command should not be accepted by anyone especially those who are religious. He implies that the theory is irrational mainly because God can change the moral rules and obligations. One must first be sure

The divine command theory, often rejected based on the Euthyphro’s dilemma, is the belief that what is moral and immoral is commanded by the divine, the divine being a supernatural agency with a powerful amount of influence over us. In addition to this, the divine command theory addresses questions about what is right and wrong therefore enabling it to become an ethical theory of choice, the reason for this is because every ethical system needs a foundation and the foundation to the divine command theory is the divine or God. So, the divine command theory makes the connection between the idea of morality and religion, focusing on the idea that God’s will is necessary when determining the content of morality, this also reinforces the natural

In The Elements of Moral Philosophy, James Rachels writes about The Divine Command Theory. The Divine Command Theory is a set of rules in which God created that Christians, Jews, and Muslims must follow. Humans, however, are free agents and have a choice of what to do. If humans choose to live as they should, then they must follow the rules set in place by God; He is the one who decides what is right and what is wrong. This theory however has some major flaws.

Before we look at what morality as determined by God is, we must define what it is not. Naturalism is one popular approach among Western philosophers in the twenty-first century. It supports the idea that supernatural guidance or regulation is unnecessary in explaining morality. In their view, humans can accurately judge right and wrong without relying on any authority (Shook, 2010).

The divine command theory states, if God commands you to do A, then it is your moral obligation to do A. In other words, what makes an action wrong depends on God’s authority to not do it and right based on the command that he said too, there is no other reason but that. We as humans are not like God, and therefore has formed an answer to things that have happen and the morality that has been inclined in society. This ultimately links the idea of religion and morality through religious belief and its

In James Rachels’ book, the Element of Moral Philosophy, he made interesting point in the fourth chapter. He points out the similarities and differences between morality and religion. Mostly, when thought about morals, religion is mention. Religion is almost all about morals. Directing what is wrong and right. Divine Command Theory is morality relationship between God (gods) and the people. God (gods) orders the meaning of good and the bad. People need to follow the rules to receive blessings from their creator. The Theory of Natural Law, everything has it purpose. If it is against nature, then it is wrong. Moral standards in religion are backed with scriptures and church tradition. But, there is some flaws in the reasons why religion

Moral Nihilism states that the world contains no moral features and under this theory are two theories which are error theory and expressivism. The reason that both of these theories are under Moral Nihilism is because they both believe the statement that there are no moral features in the world and that no moral judgements are true. The defining point of Error Theory is that it believes that our moral judgements try and always fail to describe the moral features of things. Although expressivism is a little different, they believe that morality doesn’t exist, but they don’t think there is anything is wrong with it. They believe that at the core of our moral believes that there is no true

What about commands from human authorities? Do they offer justification? While a God could possess attributes potentially worthy of a moral authority, humans do not. Humans are fallible, at times misguided, often selfish, and in enough cases just plain evil. The ethical commands of a human authority provide no justification for moral action.

The Divine Command Theory is a theory that says an action or behavior is considered right or wrong if it is commanded or condemned by God. Anything that God commands must be good, and anything that he denounces must be evil. According to DCT, a person is not moral without believing in God (Pojman 188-9). The DCT can be applied to Sir Thomas More’s reasoning and actions in his life.