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Full Idea
The reasons assigned for actions are such as 'It is the end proposed by the Deity'. But why do we approve concurring with the divine ends? The reason is given 'He is our benefactor', but then, for what reason do we approve concurrence with a benefactor?
Gist of Idea
We are asked to follow God's ends because he is our benefactor, but why must we do that?
Source
Francis Hutcheson (Treatise 4: The Moral Sense [1728], §I)
Book Ref
'British Moralists 1650-1800 Vol. 1', ed/tr. Raphael,D.D. [Hackett 1991], p.310
A Reaction
Characteristic of what MacIntyre calls the 'Enlightenment Project', which is the application of Cartesian scepticism to proving the foundations of morals. Proof beyond proof is continually demanded. If you could meet God, you would obey without question.
| 20773 | The origin of justice can only be in Zeus, and in nature [Chrysippus] |
| 23348 | Both god and the good bring benefits, so their true nature seems to be the same [Epictetus] |
| 5752 | Where does evil come from if there is a god; where does good come from if there isn't? [Boethius] |
| 19344 | God prefers men to lions, but might not exterminate lions to save one man [Leibniz] |
| 6254 | We are asked to follow God's ends because he is our benefactor, but why must we do that? [Hutcheson] |
| 6255 | Why may God not have a superior moral sense very similar to ours? [Hutcheson] |
| 16006 | Either Abraham rises higher than universal ethics, or he is a mere murderer [Kierkegaard] |
| 7158 | Morality kills religion, because a Christian-moral God is unbelievable [Nietzsche] |
| 7199 | It is dishonest to invent a being containing our greatest values, thus ignoring why they exist and are valuable [Nietzsche] |
| 4488 | Those who have abandoned God cling that much more firmly to the faith in morality [Nietzsche] |
| 20701 | Can God be good, if he has not maximised goodness? [Davies,B] |