Divine Command Theory Research

The Divine Command theory of ethics is a theory that states that an act is right or wrong and good or bad based on whether or not God commands or prohibits us from doing it. This means that the only thing that makes an action morally wrong is because God says it is. There are two sides to this theory; the restricted and the unrestricted. The restricted theory basically says that an action is obligatory if and only if it is good and God commanded it; the unrestricted theory states that an act is only obligatory if it is commanded by God, it is not obligatory if it is prohibited by God and it is optional if and only if God has not commanded nor prohibited it.

The unrestricted divine command theory is committed to morality being completely and solely dependent of the commands of God. This basically explains the reason any action is good or bad, and the reason an action can be called good is because God is good, just, and righteous. The question posed by Socrates proposes a thought that maybe instead of good and bad being determined by God that God’s commands are right because they were first good.

The restricted version of this theory claims that not all of morality is bases of God’s commands. This was attempted to be explained using the example of some animals being carnivores and others not (Timmons 31). There are many problems with this theory; animals were made to kill and eat other animals for survival. Humans, on the other hand, were not made to kill and eat other humans.

The story that is found in Plato’s dialogue Euthyphro proposes a dilemma that has since been a very controversial subject. When Socrates encounters Euthyphyo, he is on his way to trail to face charges against his own father. His father had been accused o...

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... power. It allows for people to have meaning in their life and have an over all picture of the world as a whole. Ethics is a branch in philosophy that asks the questions as follows: What actions are right or wrong? What events are good or bad? What agents are virtuous or vicious (Bruno)? I do believe that religion and ethics over lap in many ways. In most religion there is a set of rules, or guidance, that relates to ethics. Most people would say that as humans, we should lead a good life. As to why is a bit controversial. Some people believe that we should do what God desires and what God does because God is good. Though I do believe that people who accept religion have a better understanding of ethics, others who do not really accept religion in their life believe that is it possible to live a good life without religion, and many religious people recognize that.