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Morality in the Modern
World
Where does morality come from?
Euthyphro
Dilemma
Euthyphro Dilemma
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The Euthyphro argument gets its name from
Plato’s Euthyphro dialogue; a dialogue
between Euthyphro who is prosecuting his
father for killing his own slave and Socrates,
who is being prosecuted for ‘corrupting’ the
youth.
In general, the Euthyphro Dilemma consists of
asking whether the Good exists because God
wills it, or whether God acts in conformity to
the idea of the Good.
In short, it consists of asking “where do moral
standards come from ?”.
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The Euthyphro dilemma is introduced with
the question from Socrates to Euthyphro:
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“Does God command the good because
it is good,
OR
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or is it good because it is commanded
by God? “
First Horn of the Dilemma
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Asserts that God commands the good because it
is good in itself.
If God commands the good because it is good,
then he bases his decision what to command on
what is already morally good.
Moral goodness, then, must exist before God
issues any commands, otherwise he wouldn’t
command anything.
If moral goodness exists before God issues any
commands, though, then moral goodness is
independent of God’s commands;
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God’s commands aren’t the source of morality, but
merely a source of information about morality.
Morality itself is not based in divine commands.
Second Horn of Dilemma
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Asserts that the good is good because it is
commanded by God.
On this view, nothing is good until God
commands it.
This, though, raises a problem too:
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if nothing is good until God commands it, then what
God commands is completely morally arbitrary;
God has no moral reason for commanding as he does;
morally speaking, he could just as well have
commanded anything else.
This problem is exacerbated when we consider
that God, being omnipotent (all-powerful), could
have commanded anything at all.
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He could, for example, have commanded
polygamy, slavery, and the killing of the over50s.
If divine command theory is true, then had he
done so then these things would be morally
good.
That doesn’t seem right, though; even if God
had commanded these things they would still be
morally bad.
Divine command theory, then, must be false.
Divine Command Theory
D.C.T.
2nd Horn
Doing God’s will
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Divine command theory holds that
morality is all about doing God’s will.
God, divine command theorists hold, has
issued certain commands to his creatures.
We can find these commands in the Bible
or other holy books, or by asking religious
authorities, or perhaps even just by
consulting our moral intuition.
We ought to obey these commands;
that’s all there is to ethics.
Divine Command Theorists
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There are several reasons for theists to be
divine command theorists.
If God is the creator literally all things,
then he created morality.
If God rules over all Creation, then we
ought to do what he tells us to do.
The consistent message of the Bible is
that we should obey God’s commands.
Argument against DCT
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The most famous argument against divine
command theory is the Euthyphro
Dilemma.
However the divine command theorist
tries to answer the questions from the two
horns of dilemma, unacceptable
consequences seem to arise
Absolute Morals
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Is the belief that there are moral principles
which hold true for all people at all times in all
situations.
In religion moral absolutism is often found
under the guise of DCT.
It means that God has set down a set of moral
values which hold true for all people at all times
in all circumstances.
This means that the moral values cannot be
changed or added to, they are objective.
Relative Morals
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Is the view that there are no objective, absolute
ethical truths.
Moral facts only hold relative to a given
individual or society.
According to this ethical theory, what is morally
good for one person or culture might be morally
bad for another, and vice versa: there are no
moral absolutes.
The individualistic form of moral relativism,
according to which morality varies between
individuals, is subjective ethics.
Heteronomous Morals
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Root meaning of ‘heteronomous’ comes
from– rules followed by others
Follow moral rules given by others out of
obedience to an authority who has
coercive power
Heteronomous morality is conformity to
external rules that are simply accepted
and followed without question.
Examples of heteronomous morality
derived from power and authority or other
sources of guidance are parents, teachers,
community, religion etc.
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Morality is considered heteronomous if it
depends on religious beliefs or if it has been
developed with reference to a set of values
provided by religion.
Society influenced by religious views and
attitudes. These have an unconscious effect,
even on those who are not religious.
Contrasts with autonomy-Autonomous moral
systems which depend on reasonableness and
good-will of individuals - but this cannot be
guaranteed.
Ultimate authority for Christian morality (as for
Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and Hindu) is God's will.
Autonomous Morals
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Root meaning of ‘autonomous’ comes
from- ‘follows moral rules of self’
Such rules are self constructed and selfregulating principles.
It means that moral values are
independent of religious belief.
Highlights reason as the main source of
morality
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Does not rely on guidance from any other
source.
Contrasts with heteronomy.
Describes reasons for the rejection of
religion as source of morality.
Explains that both religious and nonreligious people can accept that moral
values are autonomous e.g. you make an
autonomous choice whether to follow the
heteronomous morals of a religion.