This is first half of the paper I presented to the Naturalisms in Ethics Conference at Auckland University last year. In many of his addresses and debates William Lane Craig has defended a Divine Command Theory of moral obligation (“DCT”). In a recent article Walter Sinnott-Armstrong has criticized this contention.[1] Armstrong contends that even if [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Divine Command Theory'
Is Ethical Naturalism more Plausible than Supernaturalism? A Reply to Walter Sinnott-Armstrong Part I
February 7th, 2012 7 Comments
Tags: Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Robert Adams · Walter Sinnott-Armstrong · William Lane Craig
Contra Mundum: When Scientists Make Bad Ethicists
October 10th, 2011 387 Comments
One thing I find particularly frustrating is reading commentary on theology and philosophy written by scientists. To be fair, some scientists I have read are informed and do offer astute and insightful comments; commonly, however, one finds a person who is undoubtedly brilliant in their own field, writing with confident gusto, articles that fail to [...]
Tags: Charles Darwin · Contra Mundum · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Investigate Magazine · Jerry Coyne · Robert Adams · Science and Religion
Skepticule Extra – A Podcast on the Euthyphro Dilemma Feat. Matthew Flannagan
September 16th, 2011 31 Comments
Recently Matt did a podcast on Divine Command Theory and the Euthyphro Dilemma for Skepticule Extra, aka the “Pauls to the Power of Three Podcast” hosted by Paul Baird, Paul Thompson (“Sinbad”) and Paul S. Jenkins. You can listen to that podcast here. Visit Skepticule for more listening options.
Tags: Divine Command Theory · Euthyphro Dilemma · Paul Baird · Paul Jenkins · Paul Thompson · Skepticule
Divine Commands Post 9/11
September 12th, 2011 43 Comments
The night of September 11, 2001, was a night we did not get much sleep in. By 4am September 12 (New Zealand time) our two-week old son and 14 month old daughter had woken us twice already. Frustratingly, I awoke again sometime after 4am to a different noise coming from the lounge; it turned out [...]
Tags: 9/11 · Divine Command Theory · Osama Bin Laden · Raymond Bradley · Robert Adams · Terrorism
Transcript: Sam Harris v William Lane Craig Debate “Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural?” UPDATED
May 3rd, 2011 45 Comments
Sam Harris and William Lane Craig debated the moot “Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural?” at the University of Notre Dame on 7 April 2011. We’ve already linked to the debate MP3 and a playlist of the video and we have published a two part review but now, as an MandM exclusive, we bring [...]
Tags: Debates · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural? · Notre Dame · Sam Harris · Transcript · William Lane Craig
Debate Review: Sam Harris and William Lane Craig on Divine Command Theory Part I
April 13th, 2011 53 Comments
Last week Sam Harris and William Lane Craig debated the question: “Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural?” at the University of Notre Dame. Given my interest in divine command meta-ethics I found the debate and the subsequent online discussion concerning it extremely interesting. I was particularly interested in how the ‘new atheist’ movement would [...]
Tags: Debates · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural? · Notre Dame · Philip Quinn · Robert Adams · Sam Harris · William Lane Craig
Ethical Naturalism and the Euthyphro Dilemma
April 12th, 2011 9 Comments
Some people argue that moral obligations can be grounded in scientifically verifiable facts about human wellbeing and flourishing. This view is a form of ethical naturalism. For these people moral rightness is just the property of promoting or enhancing human flourishing. Plato refuted this argument over 2,000 years ago in his famous dialogue The Euthyphro. The [...]
Tags: Divine Command Theory · Ethical Naturalism · Euthyphro Dilemma · God and Morality · Humour · Plato
Video of Matthew Flannagan Speaking on Divine Command Theory
February 7th, 2011 10 Comments
On 4 February 2011 the Auckland Reason and Science Society (“RSS”) hosted an event they titled “Divine Command Theory with Dr. Matthew Flannagan” at the University of Auckland. For those of you who missed the event, here is the video. Note: This video only includes footage of the talk itself and not the Q&A that [...]
Tags: Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · MandM on Video · Reason and Science Society
God, Morality and Abhorrent Commands: Part III Philip Quinn
November 29th, 2010 5 Comments
In this three-part series I look at some different ways of adjudicating conflicts between apparent divine commands and moral beliefs. I started with Immanuel Kant, I then looked at Robert Adams’ defence of Kant’s position. Now I will complete the series by exploring Philip Quinn’s alternative view. In “God, Morality and Abhorrent Commands: Part II [...]
Tags: Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Kant · Philip Quinn · Robert Adams
God, Morality and Abhorrent Commands: Part II Robert Adams
October 19th, 2010 7 Comments
In this three-part series I will look at some different ways of adjudicating conflicts between apparent divine commands and moral beliefs. I started with Immanuel Kant, now I will look at Robert Adams’ position. In “God, Morality and Abhorrent Commands: Part I Kant” I mentioned Phillip Quinn’s observation that theists can face a particular dilemma, [...]
Tags: Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · James Rissler · Kant · Philip Quinn · Raymond Bradley · Religious History · Robert Adams · Selection
