Divine Command
Theories of Ethics
Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D.
University of San Diego
3/18/2016
Director, The Values Institute
(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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Abraham and Isaac
In the old Testament, God commands Abraham to
sacrifice his only son, Isaac.
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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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?
3/18/2016
(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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.”
3/18/2016
(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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Religion as Harmful to the Moral
Life


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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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
3/18/2016
(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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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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(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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