Some Theological Approaches to Ethics

I. The Golden Rule: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

GR: An act token, A, is morally right iff in doing A, the agent of A treats others as he or she would have others treat him- or herself.

Here's an alternative way of stating the theory:

GR: An act token, A, is morally right iff in doing A, the agent of A treats others in ways in which he or she is willing to be treated by them.

• I presented several arguments against GR based upon some of my favorite stories: Melissa the Masochist, my dear brother Matt, the jailor and the prisoner, and the boss and the worker. Be able to state GR and then PEE and argument against it.

II. The Ten Commandments (See Exodus 20: 1-17)

10C: An act token, A, is morally right iff A doesn't violate any of the Ten Commandments.

• I presented and then suggested several arguments against 10C. Be able to state 10C and then PEE an argument against it.

III. The Divine Command Theory: "[T]o inquire what is our duty, or what we are obliged to do in any instance, is, in effect, to inquire what is the will of God in that instance" (William Paley, Moral and Political Philosophy: Book 2, Chapter 4)

DCT: An act token, A, is morally right iff A can be performed without violating any of God's commands.

Here are some objections to DCT:

A. Maybe God does not exist. If God doesn't exist, then it would be futile to attempt to analyze moral rightness in terms of God's Psychology. Here's a popular argument against the existence of God based upon the Problem of Evil:

1. If God exists, then ours is the best possible world.
2. If ours is the best possible world, then our world contains no unnecessary evil and suffering.
3. It's not the case that our world contains no unnecessary evil and suffering.
4. Therefore, it's not the case that God exists. [1,2,3 MMT]

B. Maybe God has given no commands. (Consider the deist position and the features utilized to motivate it.)

C. Maybe we have no way of knowing what God has commanded.

D. The "Euthyphro Problem" (aka: The Arbitrariness Problem)

1. Either (a) morally right acts are morally right because God commands them or (b) God commands morally right acts because they are morally right (because of some interesting feature they have).
2. If morally right acts are morally right because God commands them, then God's commands are arbitrary (and the doctrine of the goodness of God is rendered meaningless).
3. If God's commands are arbitrary (and the doctrine of the goodness of God is rendered meaningless), then DCT is an unacceptable normative theory.
4. If God commands morally right acts because they are morally right (because of some interesting feature they have), then there is a standard of moral rightness independent of God's psychology.
5. If there is a standard of moral rightness independent of God's psychology, then DCT is an unacceptable normative theory.
6. Therefore, DCT is an unacceptable normative theory. [1,2,3,4,5 SC-MMP]

Either be able to discuss the Euthyphro Problem for DCT informally or be able to PEE the Euthyphro Problem Argument. Be able to provide rationales for each of the premises in the Euthyphro Problem Argument.

IV. Virtue-Vice Theory: In light of the "Euthyphro Problem", many theists have opted to endorse a virtue-vice account of moral rightness:

VV: An act token, A, performed in situation, S, is morally right iff A is what a perfectly virtuous would do in S.

I presented three objections against VV. You should be able to present and then evaluate at least one of them.