Ethical Thought -
Divine Command Theory, Virtue Theory and Ethical Egoism
Divine Command Theory
Divine Command Theory – A religious ethic that believes an action is morally
good if it has been completely commanded by God e.g. stealing is only seen as
morally bad because God commanded it that way. Goodness is simply what
God commands.
God is the origin and regulator of morality –
• God is the start of moral laws and he checks they are being kept to
• Morality is ultimately completely dependent upon the commands of
God. One supporter of Divine Command Theory is William Frankena, he
stated: “the standard of right and wrong is the will … of God.”
• It might depend on the religion but ultimately moral laws depend upon
God. As the Rev John Robinson states: “They (religious laws) come
down direct from heaven, and are eternally valid”
• We find these laws in sacred texts e.g. Bible and Qur’an.
• An example would be “Do not kill” in the 10 Commandments
Right and wrong are objective truths based on God’s will –
• Not about our preference/feelings, they are basic factual truths e.g.
murder is wrong. It doesn’t matter what we think about murder. It is
wrong because God says so in the 10 Commandments.
• William of Ockham said – “With Him (God) a thing becomes right
solely because he wants it so”
We become Good by following the divine commands
• If you wish to be “good” we must be obedient to God’s commands and
if we are we can class ourselves as morally good
• An example of when humans didn’t follow God’s commands was Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When they disobeyed God they faced
his wrath and were removed from the garden. This is a message to
humans to follow God’s commands.
• It says in the Bible “the Lord your God will be merciful if you listen
and keep to all his commands.” Follow his commands and we will be
OK!
Divine command as a requirement of God’s omnipotence
• As God is all-powerful it makes sense to say he is in control of what is
good and bad
Robert Adams – Supporter of Divine Command Theory
• His version of Divine Command Theory is called the ‘Modified Divine
Command Theory’.
• He believes it is God that commands moral truths e.g. God commands
that stealing is wrong and therefore it is an eternal and universal
moral truth that stealing is wrong; thus, it becomes our religious duty
not to steal.
• However, there is a problem with this - the Euthyphro Dilemma. This
asks the question “what happens if God were to command that ‘X’ is
moral and good when human logic would conclude ‘X’ is bad and
Divine Command Theory, Virtue Theory and Ethical Egoism
Divine Command Theory
Divine Command Theory – A religious ethic that believes an action is morally
good if it has been completely commanded by God e.g. stealing is only seen as
morally bad because God commanded it that way. Goodness is simply what
God commands.
God is the origin and regulator of morality –
• God is the start of moral laws and he checks they are being kept to
• Morality is ultimately completely dependent upon the commands of
God. One supporter of Divine Command Theory is William Frankena, he
stated: “the standard of right and wrong is the will … of God.”
• It might depend on the religion but ultimately moral laws depend upon
God. As the Rev John Robinson states: “They (religious laws) come
down direct from heaven, and are eternally valid”
• We find these laws in sacred texts e.g. Bible and Qur’an.
• An example would be “Do not kill” in the 10 Commandments
Right and wrong are objective truths based on God’s will –
• Not about our preference/feelings, they are basic factual truths e.g.
murder is wrong. It doesn’t matter what we think about murder. It is
wrong because God says so in the 10 Commandments.
• William of Ockham said – “With Him (God) a thing becomes right
solely because he wants it so”
We become Good by following the divine commands
• If you wish to be “good” we must be obedient to God’s commands and
if we are we can class ourselves as morally good
• An example of when humans didn’t follow God’s commands was Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When they disobeyed God they faced
his wrath and were removed from the garden. This is a message to
humans to follow God’s commands.
• It says in the Bible “the Lord your God will be merciful if you listen
and keep to all his commands.” Follow his commands and we will be
OK!
Divine command as a requirement of God’s omnipotence
• As God is all-powerful it makes sense to say he is in control of what is
good and bad
Robert Adams – Supporter of Divine Command Theory
• His version of Divine Command Theory is called the ‘Modified Divine
Command Theory’.
• He believes it is God that commands moral truths e.g. God commands
that stealing is wrong and therefore it is an eternal and universal
moral truth that stealing is wrong; thus, it becomes our religious duty
not to steal.
• However, there is a problem with this - the Euthyphro Dilemma. This
asks the question “what happens if God were to command that ‘X’ is
moral and good when human logic would conclude ‘X’ is bad and
