Religion and Morality

1
Religion and Morality

• Many people believe that morality ultimately
  depends upon an appeal to the dictates of a
  higher being.
• Obvious problems with this position
• Atheist
• Scriptural Interpretation
• Different religious traditions
• Additional difficulties are highlighted in
  Platos Euthyphro.

2
Platos Euthyphro

• As Plato noted around 400BC, there are two main
  problems for those who adhere to the divine
  command theory of morality.
• 1.Is something moral because God commands it? Or
• 2. Does God command something because it is
  moral?

3
Problem 1

• Assume that (1) is the case (something is moral
  because God commands it) this seems to entail the
  following
• 1. Morality is arbitrary
• 2. Gods presumed goodness is reduced to
  nonsense.

4
Problem 2

• Assume that (2) is the case (God commands
  something because it is right) seems to entail
  the following
• 1. God is not the ultimate source of right and
  wrong.