Morality in the Modern World

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Morality in the Modern World
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Where does morality come from?
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Euthyphro Dilemma
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Euthyphro Dilemma

• The Euthyphro argument gets its name from Platos
  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
• Does God command the good because it is good,
• OR
• or is it good because it is commanded by God?

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First Horn of the Dilemma

• 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 wouldnt
  command anything.
• If moral goodness exists before God issues any
  commands, though, then moral goodness is
  independent of Gods commands
• Gods commands arent the source of morality,
  but merely a source of information about
  morality.
• Morality itself is not based in divine commands.

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Second Horn of Dilemma

• 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
• 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 over-50s.
• If divine command theory is true, then had he
  done so then these things would be morally good.
• That doesnt seem right, though even if God had
  commanded these things they would still be
  morally bad.
• Divine command theory, then, must be false.

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Divine Command Theory

• D.C.T.
• 2nd Horn

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Doing Gods will

• Divine command theory holds that morality is all
  about doing Gods 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 thats all
  there is to ethics.

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Divine Command Theorists

• 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 Gods commands.

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Argument against DCT

• 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

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Absolute Morals

• 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.

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Relative Morals

• 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.

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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.

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Autonomous Morals

• Root meaning of autonomous comes from- follows
  moral rules of self
• Such rules are self constructed and self-
  regulating 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 non-religious
  people can accept that moral values are
  autonomous e.g. you make an autonomous choice
  whether to follow the heteronomous morals of a
  religion.