PHIL 139 RELIGION
GLOBAL ETHICS - CLASS
ASSIGNMENT
Religion & Global Ethics
Class Assignment
1. Explain arguments in favor of the divine command theory of ethics, as well as
arguments against that theory. Is it true that if there were no God, then
everything would be permitted? [Please indicate page/pages from the
textbook where you found the relevant information]
“In this dialogue, Socrates asks whether things are good because they are approved by
the gods or whether the gods approve of them because they are good. To say that
actions are good simply because they are willed or approved by the gods or God seems
to make morality arbitrary. God could decree anything to be good—lying or treachery,
for example. It seems more reasonable to say that lying and treachery are bad, and for
this reason, the gods or God condemns or disapproves of them and we should also. One
implication of this view is that morality has a certain independence; if so, we should be
able to determine whether certain actions are right or wrong in themselves and for what
reason.” pg #31
“The first concern is that without God as a source for morality, there would be no
eternal, absolute, or objective basis for morality…… Theists often hold that God is the
source of moral law, provided through the words of a prophet, such as Moses, who
receives the moral law directly from God.”pg 32
“The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky provides the kernel of one argument that is
often used in defense of divine command ethics. Dostoevsky’s writings express the
famous claim that, “If God is dead, then everything is permissible.” This idea
articulates the worry that if there were no God, then there would be no morality” pg #31
“One of the most important problems for defenders of divine command ethics is the
fact of religious diversity. Even if we agree with Dostoevsky that God is required for
ethics, we still have to figure out which God or religious story is the one that provides
the correct teaching about morality. Saying that ethics is based in religion does not
really help us that much because we must also determine which religion is the correct
one. Given the incredible amount of religious diversity in the world, it is easy to see
that the divine command approach is not really very helpful without a much broader
inquiry into the truth of various religions” pg #32
GLOBAL ETHICS - CLASS
ASSIGNMENT
Religion & Global Ethics
Class Assignment
1. Explain arguments in favor of the divine command theory of ethics, as well as
arguments against that theory. Is it true that if there were no God, then
everything would be permitted? [Please indicate page/pages from the
textbook where you found the relevant information]
“In this dialogue, Socrates asks whether things are good because they are approved by
the gods or whether the gods approve of them because they are good. To say that
actions are good simply because they are willed or approved by the gods or God seems
to make morality arbitrary. God could decree anything to be good—lying or treachery,
for example. It seems more reasonable to say that lying and treachery are bad, and for
this reason, the gods or God condemns or disapproves of them and we should also. One
implication of this view is that morality has a certain independence; if so, we should be
able to determine whether certain actions are right or wrong in themselves and for what
reason.” pg #31
“The first concern is that without God as a source for morality, there would be no
eternal, absolute, or objective basis for morality…… Theists often hold that God is the
source of moral law, provided through the words of a prophet, such as Moses, who
receives the moral law directly from God.”pg 32
“The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky provides the kernel of one argument that is
often used in defense of divine command ethics. Dostoevsky’s writings express the
famous claim that, “If God is dead, then everything is permissible.” This idea
articulates the worry that if there were no God, then there would be no morality” pg #31
“One of the most important problems for defenders of divine command ethics is the
fact of religious diversity. Even if we agree with Dostoevsky that God is required for
ethics, we still have to figure out which God or religious story is the one that provides
the correct teaching about morality. Saying that ethics is based in religion does not
really help us that much because we must also determine which religion is the correct
one. Given the incredible amount of religious diversity in the world, it is easy to see
that the divine command approach is not really very helpful without a much broader
inquiry into the truth of various religions” pg #32
