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The
Euthyphro Problem
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The Divine Command Theory
- An act is morally obligatory if and
only if God commands it;
- An act is morally wrong if and only if
God forbids it; &
- An act is morally permissible if and
only if God does not forbid it.
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Is an act wrong because God forbids
it
�or
Does God forbid it because it is
wrong?
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The Horns of the Dilemma
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Horn
1: God forbids an action because it is wrong
If the
Divine Command Theorist takes this horn, she admits that
a. The wrong actions are wrong prior to
God's forbidding them
b. There is a standard of right and wrong
that is independent of God's will.
Horn 2: An
action is wrong because God forbids it
If the
Divine Command Theorist takes this horn, she admits that
c. God's Commands are Arbitrary
d. Morality is Contingent
e. God's Goodness is Trivial and Not
Praiseworthy
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So in saying that things are not good by
any rule of goodness, but sheerly by the will of God, it seems to me that
one destroys, without realizing it, all the love of God and all his
glory. For why praise him for what he has done if he would be equally
praiseworthy in doing exactly the contrary.
G.W. Leibniz, Discourse on
Metaphysics (1686)
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