Philosophy 160
Introduction to Ethics

Handout 5 - Religious Approaches to Ethics

The Ten Commandments

10C:   an act is morally right if and only if it does not violate any of the Ten Commandments.

(see here for the Ten Commandments)

The Abe-the-Abuser Argument against 10C

1. If 10C is true, then Abe's act of beating up his kids is not morally wrong.
2. But Abe's act of beating up his kids is morally wrong.
3. Therefore, 10C is not true.

The Divine Command Theory

DCT:   an act is morally right if and only if it is not prohibited by God.

God - the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good creator of the universe.

The Euthyphro Problem for DCT

Socrates’s Dilemma for DCT:

/                                                           \

(a) right actions are right                         OR                     (b) God commands them
because God commands them                                          because they are right.

|                                                                 |
\/                                                               \/

(i) God’s commands                                                                 (a) morality is no longer
are arbitrary                                                                 ultimately based on God’s
(ii) morality is contingent                                                                              commands.
(iii) God’s goodness is trivial