God’s Will as the Foundation of Morality: A Medieval Historical Perspective

Janine Idziak

doi:10.3390/rel12050362

Abstract

Theological voluntarism places the foundation of morality in the will of God. The formulation of such a thesis warrants further refinement. Different formulations of theological voluntarism were put forward in medieval philosophical theology involving the relation of God’s will to the divine intellect (reason) in determining ethical status. The fourteenth century Franciscan Andrew of Neufchateau maintained a purely voluntaristic theory in which it is God’s will alone (and not the divine intellect) that determines ethical status. Subsequently Pierre d’Ailly worked with a divine will which is identical with the divine intellect in a strong sense while still maintaining that it is properly assigned to the divine will to be an obligatory law. Later, Jean Gerson, a student of Pierre d’Ailly, spoke explicitly of God’s will and reason together as involved in God’s activity in the ethical realm. In this paper, we set out these three different formulations of theological voluntarism, tracing the evolution of medieval formulations of theological voluntarism. Although the paper is historical in nature, we conclude with some reflections on how contemporary philosophers and theologians interested in theological voluntarism might profit from study of this historical literature.

Highlights

An ethics of divine commands maintains that ethical status is dependent on the commands of God
The paper is historical in nature, we conclude with some reflections on how contemporary philosophers and theologians interested in theological voluntarism might profit from study of this historical literature
To say that ethical status is determined by divine commands is a thesis standing in need of further specification, for we have not yet been told what it is in the divine nature that is responsible for making those determinations

Summary

Introduction

An ethics of divine commands maintains that ethical status is dependent on the commands of God. Some philosophers have explored whether the act of the divine will requisite to determining ethical status is to be understood as some mental act such as choosing, intending, preferring, or wishing (Murphy 2019) Beyond such discussions, Murphy makes an important methodological point: as well as answering objections against the ethical theory in question and providing good positive reasons in support of it, the task of determining the specific formulation of it merits attention (Murphy 1998). Study of the historical literature reveals that different formulations of theological voluntarism were put forward in medieval philosophical theology, involving the relation of God’s will to the divine intellect (reason) in determining ethical status. The orientation of this paper is historical rather than argumentative, we will, in the final section of the paper, offer some reflections on how contemporary philosophers and theologians interested in theological voluntarism might profit from study of this historical literature

Andrew of Neufchateau

Pierre d’Ailly

Jean Gerson

Concluding Reflections