Transcript Ethics and Religion

Divine Command
Theories of Ethics
Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D.
University of San Diego
7/17/2015
Director, The Values Institute
(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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Overview
We will consider three different
accounts of the relationship between
religion and reason in ethics:
 Religion takes priority over reason:
– Divine command theories
– Teleological suspension of the ethical


Compatibilist theories
Autonomy of reason theories
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Divine Command Theories

These theories claim that something
is right because God will it.
– Augustine and the voluntarist tradition
– Clear in Islam, where the will of Allah is
the measure of all that is right

Also characteristic of much of
fundamentalism in all religions.
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Criticisms of Divine Command
Theories



How can we know God’s will?
Does divine command theory
undermine human autonomy?
Can be used to subjugate the
masses.
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Abraham and Isaac
In the old Testament, God commands Abraham to
sacrifice his only son, Isaac.
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The Story of Abraham
Genesis, 22:1-10
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said
unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get
thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of
the mountains which I will tell thee of.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of
his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt
offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the
lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son;
and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them
together.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here
am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb
for a burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:
so they went both of them together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an
altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on
the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
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The Story of Abraham
Genesis, 22:11-19
And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said,
Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing
unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not
withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a
ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the
ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to
this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the
second time,
And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou
hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea
shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because
thou hast obeyed my voice.
So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went
together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
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The Issue


God’s command that Abraham
should kill his only son as a sacrifice
to God seems to go against reason
and morality
The issue: can God ask us to do
things that go against reason and
morality? Which takes precedence,
God’s command or reason?
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The Teleological Suspension of
the Ethical

According to
Søren Kierkegaard,
sometimes it is
necessary to
suspend the
ethical for the sake
of God
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Søren Kierkegaard
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
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Kierkegaard sought to
heighten the tension
between faith and
reason, rather than try
as Hegel had done to
minimize it.
The case of Abraham in
Fear and Trembling
Either/Or
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Compatibilist Theories

Compatibilist theories say that
reason and religion can never
contradict one another
– Strong: they are saying the same thing
– Weak: they say different things, but not
contradictory things
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Strong Compatibilism


G. W. F. Hegel thought
that reason and religion
could be completely
reconciled.
Religion presents same
truths as reason, but
under a different form,
as myth rather than as
reason.
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Weak Compatibilism
Thomas Aquinas believed
that reason and faith
could never contradict
one another, but faith
may reveals truths
beyond the react of
reason.
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Supremacy of Reason

Bertrand Russell
thought that
religion was simply
wrong, and reason
was the role guide
for action.
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Rationalistic Theists
Immanuel Kant
believed in God, but
felt that even God
was subject to the
dictates of reason.
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Criticisms of Autonomy of Reason
Theories


The heritage of the Enlightenment:
belief in reason and autonomy and
individualism
Challenges to the Enlightenment
belief:
– Human acts of irrationality: the
Holocaust, enslavement of AfricanAmericans, etc.
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A Crucial Distinction

Distinguish two questions:
– Content. Can reason provide us with
adequate guidelines about how we
should act? The answer appears to be
“yes.”
– Motivation. Can reason provide us with
adequate motivation to do the right
thing? Here the answer appears to be
“no.”
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Possible Relationships between
Religion and Reason in Ethics
Supremacy of
Religion
Compatibilist
Theories
Supremacy of
Reason
Strong version
All morality based
on divine
commands
Fundamentalism
Reason and religion
are identical
Hegel
Ethics based only
on reason; atheistic
or agnostic
Russell
Weak version
Teleological
Suspension of the
Ethical
Kierkegaard
Reason and religion
may be different but
do not conflict
Aquinas
Even God must
follow dictates of
reason
Kant
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The Role of Religion in the Moral
Life

Key question: Is religion harmful or
helpful to the moral life?
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Religion as Harmful to the Moral
Life

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Karl Marx: Religion
as the opiate of the
masses, used to
enslave them
For Marx, religion
was only a tool for
oppression.
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Religion as Harmful to the Moral
Life
Friedrich Nietzsche
 The Death of God
 Nihilism
 Slave morality and
ressentiment
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Religion as Transcendence


Supporters of
religion point out
the way in which
the religious
consciousness
allows individuals
to transcend the
oppression of their
times.
Oscar Romero of
El Salvador
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Religion and Ultimate Justice
Is religion necessary
to insure ultimate
justice, that those who
suffer in this world will
be recompensed and
that those who gain in
this world through
treachery will be
punished in the next?
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