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Single Idea 2609
[filed under theme 28. God / A. Divine Nature / 6. Divine Morality / b. Euthyphro question
]
Full Idea
Theologians have always taught that God's decrees are good, and that this is not a mere tautology: it follows that goodness is logically independent of God's decrees.
Gist of Idea
If God's decrees are good, and this is not a mere tautology, then goodness is separate from God's decrees
Source
Bertrand Russell (Human Society in Ethics and Politics [1954], p.48)
Book Ref
Ayer,A.J.: 'The Central Questions of Philosophy' [Penguin 1976], p.226
The
20 ideas
with the same theme
[which comes first - morality or God(s)?]:
4013
|
And God saw the light, that it was good
[Anon (Tor)]
|
1657
|
Socrates holds that right reason entails virtue, and this must also apply to the gods
[Vlastos on Socrates]
|
336
|
Is what is pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because they love it? (the 'Euthyphro Question')
[Plato]
|
337
|
It seems that the gods love things because they are pious, rather than making them pious by loving them
[Plato]
|
2627
|
I wonder whether loss of reverence for the gods would mean the end of all virtue
[Cicero]
|
1515
|
Pythagoreans believe it is absurd to seek for goodness anywhere except with the gods
[Iamblichus]
|
23178
|
Divine law commands some things because they are good, while others are good because commanded
[Aquinas]
|
7399
|
Even without religion, there are many guides to morality
[Bacon]
|
6892
|
Moral principles have some validity without a God commanding obedience
[Grotius, by Mautner]
|
19330
|
If justice is arbitrary, or fixed but not observed, or not human justice, this undermines God
[Leibniz]
|
5642
|
For Shaftesbury, we must already have a conscience to be motivated to religious obedience
[Shaftesbury, by Scruton]
|
18242
|
Confucius shows that ethics can rest on reason, rather than on revelation
[Wolff, by Korsgaard]
|
5633
|
We don't accept duties as coming from God, but assume they are divine because they are duties
[Kant]
|
8046
|
We can only know we should obey God if we already have moral standards for judging God
[Kant, by MacIntyre]
|
3721
|
We judge God to be good by a priori standards of moral perfection
[Kant]
|
6199
|
Obligation does not rest on the existence of God, but on the autonomy of reason
[Kant]
|
3780
|
We must judge a thing morally to know if it conforms to God's will
[Bentham]
|
19454
|
A God needs justice, kindness and wisdom, but those concepts don't depend on the concept of God
[Feuerbach]
|
2609
|
If God's decrees are good, and this is not a mere tautology, then goodness is separate from God's decrees
[Russell]
|
4350
|
If people are virtuous in obedience to God, would they become wicked if they lost their faith?
[Hursthouse]
|