Divine Command Theory
DCT holds that morality originates with God
Origins of the Euthyphro Dilemma
A dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro, set outside a court-house in Athens
Basic Euthyphro Dilemma
Does God command things because they’re good or are things good because God commands them?
Arbitrariness Problem
- The idea that DCT is based on whims that God has
- How does God decide what to command?
- If morality depends on God’s decision what to command, then God’s decision what to command cannot be informed by morality
- God’s commands can be neither informed nor sanctioned by morality
Pluralism Objection
Different religions claim different Divine Command Theories - it’s not a universal belief
Emptiness Problem
- Statements like ‘God is good’ are thought to be useless
- If DCT is true, then God’s will is the standard of moral goodness
- God’s goodness is a different kind to our sense of goodness
Issues with DCT
- Other explanations are more rational or naturalistic
2. The Old Testament suggests that the theory is arbitrary
What did Robert Adams argue with DCT?
Because morality is grounded in God, it cannot be arbitrary because it depends upon God’s omnibenevolence and whatever God commands is a reflection of this
What are Julian Bagginni’s responses to Adam’s argument?
Adams just extends the problem rather than solving it
Strengths of DCT
- Consistent with religious belief
2. Takes responsibility away from humans
The Euthyphro Dilemma (8)
- If DCT is true then either morally good acts are willed by God because they are morally good or morally good acts are morally good because they are willed by God
- If morally good acts are willed by God because they are morally good, then they are morally good independent of God’s will
- It isn’t the case that morally good acts are morally good independent of God’s will
- Therefore, it isn’t the case that morally good acts are willed by God because they’re morally good
- If morally good acts are morally good because they’re willed by God, then there is no reason either to care about God’s moral goodness or to worship him
- There are reasons both to care about God’s moral goodness and to worship him
- Therefore, it isn’t the case that morally good acts are morally good because they’re willed by God
- Therefore, DCT is false
Where in the Bible can it be seen that God commands acts that would otherwise be thought to be morally wrong?
Exodus 11:2 - Plundering the Egyptians
Genesis 22:2 - Preparing to Sacrifice a Son
What is the classis Christian response to the Euthyphro dilemma?
- To ground goodness in God’s nature
2. It is God’s nature to do good, and God never acts contrary to His nature
Examples of God’s goodness in Scripture
Psalm 34:8 - ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’
Psalm 107:1 - ‘Give thanks for the Lord, for he is good’
Anticipated objections to DCT and responses to them
- What if God’s nature changes so that what is good by God’s nature becomes evil? - Malachi 3:6, ‘God is immutable’
- What about the times when God commands the Israelites to slaughter their enemies? - God is good but his nature also makes him just, God is a God who must punish sin and wickedness
Independence Problem
- The problem that the first answer that the theist might give to the Euthyphro dilemma appears to entail that moral facts hold independent of God’s will
- Cannot answer the Euthyphro dilemma
- Moral goodness would be independent of God’s will and DCT would be false
What did Robert Adams say in regard to DCT?
‘Any action is ethically wrong if and only if it is contrary to the commands of a loving God’
