In this paper I am going to explain what Divine Command Theory is. Then I will explain an objection to it called the Euthyphro Objection. Lastly I will explain Quinn’s response to the Euthyphro Objection and raise an objection to his treatment of the objection.
Before I explain Divine Command Theory first I want to explain morality according to Quinn. Quinn states that morality is based on three concepts: rightness, wrongness, and obligation (515). Actions that are morally right are morally permissible or allowed and fine to do. Actions that are morally wrong then are only wrong since they are not morally right; these actions could be considered ones that morality forbids or prohibits (515). Each action is either be right or wrong, no action
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This story is about a man named Abraham who was commanded by God to kill his son Isaac. Quinn starts his explanation with the following three claims: If God commands me to do something, it is not morally wrong for me to do it (8A), God commands me to kill my son (8B), It is morally wrong for me to kill my son (8C). One of the claims from 8A-8C must be rejected by Abraham. Since Divine Command Theory states that God’s forbidding of actions makes them morally wrong then 8A cannot be rejected because God’s command of the action makes it obligatory, so either 8B or 8C must be rejected. A philosopher named Kant suggest that 8B should be rejected because Abraham could not know for a fact the voice commanding him to kill his son was God. Quinn’s response to this is that God could provide Abraham with a sign that would make him know for a fact that God commanded him to kill his son Isaac. For instance, God could rearrange the stars to say “Abraham kill Isaac” and Abraham could ask strangers those who do not even know english if they saw the same thing to make sure he was not crazy and this would confirm that God has in fact commanded him to kill Isaac. Then Abraham would reject 8C because God’s command makes the action obligatory and permissible. Thus, a divine command theorist such as Quinn could state that actions are obligatory because God command them and God’s commands could not be arbitrary because God is constrained by God’s goodness and God’s commands do not have to conform to what humans believe is goodness. If a monotheists believed that God should conform to what we perceive as goodness that would mean that our ideas rather than what they are a reflection of are an absolute or perfect and this would be wrong because it would be idolatry of our ideas and not
There are many forms of art. As for orators their ideas are their canvases, their language is their paint brush and their wordings are their colors. Orators combine them together to paint elaborate paintings, the painting of speaking. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1741) is a typical sermon which was written by Jonathan Edwards in the Great Awakening. Edwards wants to use the sermon to awaken his audience that they should dedicate their lives to God.
The second reason is that he doesn’t want to suggest that the idea of a positive god can be
This is so because it becomes difficult to know whether moral goodness is independent of the will of God or if it is as a result of His will. The Euthyphro dilemma offers two intensely differing sides. On one side of the argument, theorists are of the opinion that morality is whatever God wills. This position then brings into question the goodness of God’s will if His command vindicates what is wrong. Arguing that goodness is the determined by God shows that what is rights is so because God wills it to be right.
{UGLY FIX THAT!!!} (Not actually that bad) With regards to Napoleon, “there exists no absolute relationship between him and his deeds” as any number of people could have been responsible for the actions. The deeds of Napoleon merely demonstrate the presence of a great general, but not necessarily the particular general, Napoleon. This logic would follow in relation to God and his deeds.
The definition of moral is this: “Concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character.” But, what is right, and what is wrong? Is there a straightforward, universal answer to that? The play Antigone addresses this. The two main characters are both acting upon what they see as morally just and right.
The existence of God has been presented by a multitude of philosophers. However, this has led to profound criticism and arguments of God’s inexistence. The strongest argument in contradiction to God’s existence is the Problem of Evil, presented by J.L Mackie. In this paper, I aim to describe the problem of evil, analyse the objection of the Paradox of Omnipotence and provide rebuttals to this objection. Thus, highlighting my support for Mackie’s Problem of evil.
This strong quote relating to the absence of God mirrors the absence of God in the hearts of those killing innocent lives. It begs the question, “Was God not there or did the sovereign One allow it to happen?” The same question is asked today after each unexplainable tragedy when innocent lives are taken at the hand of another. The answer lies
“The Problem of Evil” is simply the question, why does God allow evil to happen? God is omnipotent, omniscient, all-loving, and rational, therefore why does evil exist? There is either no God or he is not what we think he is, since evil could be prevented by him with no risk. Atheists and anti-theodicist see a problem with the idea that God could prevent evil. They believe that because God is so powerful and perfect, that he would not allow such immoral actions to be done.
Caleb Stephens April 15, 2017 Introduction to Philosophy The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that Philippa Foot’s objection, raised to her own argument against utilitarianism, is correct. Her initial thesis is that benevolence, while the foundation of utilitarianism, is an internal end of morality, rather than the ultimate end of morality. The possible objection to this that there must be some overarching reason behind morality, which must imply a form of consequentialism. The response she offers is that there should be some other form of morality, which is a weak argument, as it does not provide an alternate conception of morality itself.
Rhetorical Analysis "Fear is an instructor of great sagacity and the herald of all resolutions. "- Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” was a sermon written and delivered by American reverend Jonathan Edwards in 1741, and was an outstanding example of the potentially dominant convincing powers of the use of Rhetoric. The sermon, even when read silently, is effective in projecting a specific interpretation of the wrathful nature of God and the sinful nature of man.
The question that is asked time and time again is whether or not god exists. It is evident that people hold different beliefs. It is evident that through some of the beliefs of J.L. Mackie that it could be argued that God does not actually exist. I find this argument to be more agreeable. In Mackie’s Evil and Omnipotence, he argues many points to support why it should be believed that god does not exist.
Morality is a set of values held by a person in making when judging and evaluating what is deemed right or wrong, good or bad (Brandt, 1959). When we talk about morality in counseling it’s about the reasoning by the counselor that has four levels. They are, personal intuition, ethical guidelines established by professional organizations, ethical principles and general theories of moral action (Kitchener, 1984). Ethics is described as adopted principles that has relations to man’s behavior and moral decision making (Van Hoose & Kottler, 1985). Ethics is often thought as a synonym to morality.
Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morality, indubitably depicts and critiques the origins of morality and how the definition of morality itself is indefinite and evolves over time. However, in depicting such, elevates the controversy of several other concepts. The first controversy is the idea of what is good and evil, which initiates the idea of two subcategories of morality. Next, is the concept of guilt and punishment which correlates with the idea of a bad conscience. Lastly, Nietzsche challenges the concept of asceticism.
He describes the objection as, “all men desire the apparent good, but have no control over the appearance, but the end appears to each man in a form answering to his character” (1114b). This view argues that all people pursue that which seems good, but some people cannot see the true good, which is out of their control. The immediate implication of this objection, if it is indeed true, suggests that “no one is responsible for his own evildoing” (1114b).
With this small confession, he has renounced his fatherhood, husbandship, and everything else that made him who he was. But also, at the same time, this is one of Abraham’s greatest achievements and the reason why he is considered to be a Knight of Faith. “Abraham acts on the strength of the absurd; he is higher than the universal. On the strength of the absurd he got Isaac back”