Is Something Right Just Because God Says So? Discussion on Divine Command Theory
Divine Command Theory is the moral theory that says "If God commands it, then it is the morally right thing to do". If Divine Command Theory were true, this would mean no matter what his command, to disobey him would be wrong. God could say "Thou shalt murder" and it would be the right thing to do.
There are quite a few objections to this moral theory, but I'd like to focus on one of them. This objection is best presented as a thought experiment. Imagine God commanded these two following things;
"Thou shalt not obey my next command"
"Thou shalt not murder"
So a person who believes in Divine Command Theory hears this, and starts to interpret it. His thought process starts with, "Well, God commanded me to not obey his second command, and if God commands it, then it is the morally right thing to do, so I shouldn't obey his second command". He then thinks, "Wait, if I don't obey one of God's commandments, that would be morally wrong, because the morally right thing to do would be to obey his commandment".
So, to summarize, a problem with Divine Command Theory is that it allows for people to be forced to follow commandments (or sets of commandments) that are impossible to follow. Thus, what any rational Divine Command Theorist would say would be, "Well, I'll change my theory. I'll say if God commands it, and it isn't impossible to follow, then it is the morally right thing to do". This is a completely fair move for the Divine Command Theorist to make. However, this revised version of the theory comes with its own problems.
With this revised version of the theory, we cannot say that God alone is the source of moral good, for something must be commanded by God, and also possible to follow for it to be the right thing to do. Now the correct answer to ask the Divine Command Theorist is "Well if God can't make something right on his own, couldn't it be the case that 'If its right and possible to follow, then God commands it' is the correct way to view God's place in morality?" In short, there is no reason to believe that things are right just because God commands them and that they are possible to follow.
So, I want to know what other people think. Are you a Divine Command Theorist? Had you heard of DCT before? What are your thoughts on the objection? Please, lets get a conversation going in the comments!
This is all new to me. What is the purpose of DCT? It seems fraught with logistical difficulties. I mean, if we could establish that god existed, and if we could establish that he holds moral sway over mankind, and if we could also verify that he had indeed commanded a particular individual, then I can see value in the concept.
But as we can't do any of the above (and we need all three), then what is the point of DCT?
Am I missing the point?
No, you're not missing the point. You're right, Divine Command Theory only follows if God exists and gives commandments. So, those would be other objections to the theory. This objection (That I actually came up with myself!) focuses on showing that in some cases Divine Command Theory would be impossible to follow. One of the main benefits of DCT is usually said to be that no other force has a hand in what is right, it is only what God says. This objection says well there actually is another force, that being logic.
The thing is though Devon, this is a creature that drowned nearly everyone and everyone thing because some people were "wicked". God is operating on a whole new level of morality to us mere mortals. His morality is not our morality. How could it be?