In his article, “Why Traditional Theism Cannot Provide an Adequate Foundation for Morality”, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong argued that a “Divine command theory makes morality childish.”[1] In my response to Armstrong, “Is Ethical Naturalism more Plausible than Supernaturalism?”[2] I made two points. First, I addressed a tangential point: that Armstrong’s argument caricatures divine command theory (“DCT”) by tacitly assuming that […]
Entries Tagged as 'Divine Command Theory'
Richard Carrier and the “Infantile” objection to God’s command’s
October 27th, 2015 1 Comment
Tags: Autonomy · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Hell · Richard Carrier · Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
The Arbitrariness Objection (once more): A brief reply to Jason Thibodeau
November 7th, 2014 6 Comments
Jason Thibodeau over at The Secular Outpost has written a thoughtful discussion and response to the critique I made of Walter Sinnott Armstrong’s arbitrariness objection in my article, “Is Ethical Naturalism more Plausible than Supernaturalism: A Reply to Walter Sinnott-Armstrong.” Jason suggests that when you disambiguate the premises of Armstrong’s argument, it is formulated as follows: […]
Tags: Arbitrariness Objection · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Jason Thibodeau · Walter Sinno
Out Now: Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God by Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan
November 4th, 2014 Comments Off on Out Now: Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God by Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan
Well done Matt and Paul. 🙂 Out now! Get your copy today of Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God, by Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan, published by Baker Books. More here. Buy from Baker Books Buy on Amazon in paperback Buy for your Kindle Buy from Book Depository (The New Zealand store launch is […]
Tags: Canaanites · Did God Really Command Genocide? · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Is God a Moral Monster? · Old Testament Ethics · Paul Copan
Jerry Coyne on Deception and the Omission of Facts
October 21st, 2014 4 Comments
In 2011 I wrote a criticism of Jerry Coyne’s USA Today article, “As atheists know, you can be good without God.” My critique, “When Scientists make bad Ethicists,” attracted some attention motivating Coyne to write a response. I wrote a following up piece the next year, “Jerry Coyne on God and Morality Revisited,” my conclusions were not […]
Tags: Atheists · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Jerry Coyne · William Lane Craig
Richard Carrier and the Abhorrent Commands Objection
October 5th, 2014 4 Comments
In my last post, Richard Carrier and the Arbitrariness Objection, I argued that Richard Carrier’s attempt to defend Walter Sinnott-Armstrong’s arbitrariness objection failed. I also argued his defence of this argument is incoherent and engages in special pleading because the arguments he defends apply with equal cogency to his own version of ethical naturalism. When […]
Tags: Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Richard Carrier
Matt to speak at the 2014 Evangelical Philosophical Society in San Deigo
October 2nd, 2014 Comments Off on Matt to speak at the 2014 Evangelical Philosophical Society in San Deigo
This blog’s Matthew Flannagan has had his paper “Mackie’s Answer to the Error Theory: A Reply to Joyce″ accepted for the National Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Philosophical Society (“EPS”) in San Diego, USA, from 19-21 November 2014. The abstract for Matt’s paper is as follows: Abstract Richard Joyce has argued that the “real problem” with divine command theories of ethics […]
Tags: Divine Command Theory · EPS · Evangelical Philosophical Society · San Diego
Did God Really Command Genocide? A new book by Copan and Flannagan
September 27th, 2014 13 Comments
Coming to a bookstore near you in November 2014: Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God by: Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan From Baker Publishing Group’s page: “Reconciling a violent Old Testament God with a loving Jesus Would a good, kind, and loving deity ever command the wholesale slaughter of nations? […]
Tags: Canaanites · Did God Really Command Genocide? · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Is God a Moral Monster? · Old Testament Ethics · Paul Copan
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
