Command Theory Research Articles

WHY WORSHIP GOD?

Assuming God exists, should we worship God? This article contends that even if God is omniscient, omnipotent and omni-benevolent, and created and sustains the world, we should adopt the attitude towards God exhibited by Abraham in Chapter 18 of Genesis. There, having been informed of God's willingness to destroy Sodom, Abraham persuades God that if the city contains ten innocent inhabitants, justice requires the plan to be altered. The story undermines the divine command theory of morality, demonstrates that God is subject to change, and suggests that God is prepared to be challenged rather than worshipped.

On Moral-Natural and Moral-Positive Duties: A Combination Metaethical Theory in the Restoration Tradition

This article elucidates a unique metaethical theory implicit in the work of several thinkers associated with the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. After positioning that theory within a broader landscape of metaethical positions endorsed by several prominent contemporary Christian philosophers and theologians, we address the concern that, when attending to the Euthyphro dilemma, the Restoration-inspired combination metaethical theory inevitably collapses into either an unalloyed divine command theory or an unalloyed natural law theory. In explaining how this sort of worry can be mitigated, we offer reason to think that the nonreductive, combination metaethical theory in question constitutes potentially fertile territory for further scholarly work in Christian ethics.

Euthyphro and Moral Realism: A Reply to Harrison

Gerald Harrison identifies two Euthyphro-related concerns for divine command theories and makes the case that to the extent that these concerns make trouble for divine command theories they also make trouble for non-naturalistic moral realism and naturalistic moral realism (call this the parity thesis). He also offers responses to the two concerns on behalf of divine command theorists. I show here that the parity thesis does not hold for the most commonly discussed version of divine command theory. I further argue that his responses to the two concerns fail. Finally, I draw on some of Harrison’s ideas to identify an advantage that non-naturalistic moral realism has over divine command theories and naturalistic moral realism.

Divine Command Theory in Early Franciscan Thought: A Response to the Autonomy Objection

In recent years, many scholars have bemoaned the gradual demise of traditional virtue ethics, and its eventual replacement in the later Middle Ages by divine command theory. Where virtue ethics nurtures a capacity for spontaneous moral judgement, this theory turns on adherence to ordained duties and laws. Thus, virtue ethicists among others have tended to object to the theory on the grounds that it undermines the role of the moral agent in moral adjudication. In this article, by contrast, I will argue that there is a way of construing divine command theory, which is not susceptible to this critique. To this end, I will turn to the work of first-generation Franciscan scholars, who affirmed the necessity of human understanding of divine commands and the complete freedom of the will to observe them.

Belief in divine moral authority: Validation of a shortened scale with implications for social attitudes and moral cognition

Religion and morality have been deeply interwoven throughout human history. Although much research has investigated the role of religiosity (e.g., belief in God, prayer, religious attendance) in shaping moral concerns, only recently has research in psychology begun to delve deeper into the meta-ethical beliefs theists hold about the spiritual foundations of morality. The present research builds on moral–philosophical discourse on Divine Command Theory and recent work by Piazza and Landy (2013), who developed the 20-item Morality Founded on Divine Authority (MFDA) scale to measure Divine Command beliefs. We sought primarily to reduce the MFDA scale to increase its pragmatic utility; Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed an optimal 5-item scale. Across four studies, this scale yielded levels of construct, convergent, and incremental validity equivalent to those of the 20-item scale. Compared with several other measures of religiosity and conservative thinking, the short MFDA was the strongest predictor of anti-atheist prejudice among U.S. religious believers and Indian Hindus (Studies 1a–1b) and largely explained religiosity's relationship with attitudes toward science (Study 1a) and moral cognitive outcomes including deontological reasoning (Study 2a) and prohibitive morality (Study 2b). We conclude with discussion about the practical utility of this scale in ongoing research into religion and moral cognition.

Taxation, Reciprocity and Communicative Regulation

Willem Witteveen promoted a communicative style of regulation with a focus on communication and dialogue between parties of more equal standing. The Dutch tax administration uses this approach to achieve voluntary compliance – supplementing the traditional command-and-control method of regulation. The underlying value of reciprocity entails a demand for good communication and even a dialogue between tax administration and taxpayers. Reciprocity here is at issue within the context of legal asymmetry, as the tax administration has considerable unilateral powers, and mutual dependence. Political and legal philosophers elucidate the notion of reciprocity. Spinoza shows the foundational nature of reciprocal collaboration between the sovereign lawmaker and legal subjects. Unlike Hobbes, he does not conceive reciprocity in a static way. More recently, Lon Fuller contrasted the idea of law based upon the principle of reciprocity with the command theory of law – a form of legal positivism. ‘Horizontal Monitoring’ is a specific Dutch form of a communicative style of regulation. This contribution analyses several features of this kind of reciprocal interaction.

Artificial Neural Command Theory

The object of artificial neurons created in the upcoming generation and years by biology and medical research will be to create a substance that commands neural networks to feel insanely overclocked emotionally at all moments to induce emotional and logical overabundance not dissimilar to ambitiously believing and acting better, more euphoric at every instance; with a solution (liquid), embedded in water made cheaply available to every being including animals. An alternative or otherwise stated methodology, an enhanced object of artificial neurons is to create a system that cures disease and enhances moods to be optimally instantly better and more euphoric at all times. Disease oriented objects should be dealt with in a matter of weeks at most and this typification of a system in which all euphoria belongs to an artificial command in the brain unlocks the potential of women and men everywhere. Thus starting with the objective command versus communication theory should be stated as follows: rather than working with, working to achieve an objective directly and in a matter of microseconds. This book delves into the theoretical constructs that would accomplish such a task in form, while objectively against wires and chips inserted which would be proven instantly to be less effective and in whole sum providing the theory to produce a substance that could be artificially inserted into water, food, anything with ease and naturally making everyone a genius forevermore, feeling insanely overclocked emotionally in the most inventive and euphoric respect, and altogether doing away with pain at all times. With respect to commanding neurons in diseases, altogether providing three original cures that have already been authored along with a discussion of the possibilities of distributing other trusted compatible theories should be mentioned with all discussions and medical research to point towards a trusted substance, termed here gU, a basically good unit in biology defined as that which instantly makes each being happiest, overclocked in joys, and logically smarter than ever at every juncture (read microsecond). All of this would be done with the creation of correct artificial neurons, with potential increasing infinitely.

The Euthyphro, Divine Command Theory and Moral Realism

AbstractDivine command theories of metaethics are commonly rejected on the basis of the Euthyphro problem. In this paper, I argue that the Euthyphro can be raised for all forms of moral realism. I go on to argue that this does not matter as the Euthyphro is not really a problem after all. I then briefly outline some of the attractions of a divine command theory of metaethics. I suggest that given one of the major reasons for rejecting such an analysis has been found to be unsound divine command theories deserve to be taken more seriously in contemporary metaethics.

Commanding Belief

AbstractThis essay shows three things: first, that we cannot comply with a command from God to believe in God; second, that God cannot command us to believe in God; and, third, that the divine command theory is false. The third conclusion follows from the second, and the second follows from the first. The essay focuses on an argument from the medieval Jewish philosopher, Hasdai Crescas. It also draws from, and is something of a sequel to, an argument from Brown and Nagasawa published previously in this journal.

Counterpossibles and the ‘terrible’ divine command deity

AbstractIn a series of articles in this journal, Wes Morriston has launched what can only be considered a full-scale assault on the divine command theory (DCT) of morality. According to Morriston, proponents of this theory are committed to an alarming counterpossible: that if God did command an annual human sacrifice, it would be morally obligatory. Since only a ‘terrible’ deity would do such a ‘terrible’ thing, we should reject DCT. Indeed, if there were such a deity, the world would be a terrible place – certainly far worse than it is. We argue that Morriston's non-standard method for assessing counterpossibles of this sort is flawed. Not only is the savvy DCT-ist at liberty to reject it, but Morriston's method badly misfires in the face of theistic activism – a metaphysical platform available to DCT-ists, according to which if God didn't exist, neither would anything else.

Declutching control of a point absorber with direct linear electric PTO systems

Declutching control is applied to a hemispherical wave energy converter with direct linear electric Power-Take-Off systems oscillating in heave direction in both regular and irregular waves. The direct linear Power-Take-Off system can be simplified as a mechanical spring and damper system. Time domain model is applied to dynamics of the hemispherical wave energy converter in both regular and irregular waves. And state space model is used to replace the convolution term in time domain equation of the heave oscillation of the converter due to its inconvenience in analyzing the controlled motion of the converters. The declutching control strategy is conducted by optimal command theory based on Pontryagin's maximum principle to gain the controlled optimum sequence of Power-Take-Off forces. The results show that the wave energy converter with declutching control captures more energy than that without control and the former's amplitude and velocity is relatively larger. However, the amplification ratio of the absorbed power by declutching control is only slightly larger than 1. This may indicate that declutching control method may be inapplicable for oscillating wave energy converters with direct linear Power-Take-Off systems in real random sea state, considering the error of prediction of the wave excitation force.

The Hart‐Fuller Debate

AbstractI will center the discussion of the Hart‐Fuller debate on the five claims Hart mentions might be understood as legal positivisms main tenets: (1) the command theory; (2) the no necessary connection thesis; (3) the methodological claim; (4) the charge of positivism as formalism and the problem of interpretation; and (5) the meta‐ethical confusion. In light of these five claims, I will explore whether the exchange of views between Hart and Fuller in 1957 truly amounted to a debate. Sorting out this issue is the aim of this article.

Divine Commands, Natural Law, and the Authority of God

Does morality depend ultimately on the rationally compelling force of natural law, or on God’s authoritative commands? These are not exclusive alternatives, of course, but they represent two widely influential ways of understanding the moral order seen in relation to divine wisdom, goodness, and power. Each alternative underscores some elements of theistic belief while deemphasizing others. Theories of the natural law emphasize the intrinsic goodness of the natural order to the potential detriment of divine freedom, whereas divine command theories underscore God’s sovereign freedom but at the risk of implying that the moral order is arbitrary and God’s will is, at best, opaque. It might seem that these alternatives are not only distinct but fundamentally at odds, but we may well ask whether this is necessarily the case. Natural law and divine command theories of ethics have persisted because each seems to preserve some key elements of theistic belief, and for that reason, theists have a stake in holding on to each perspective if possible.

Command Theory, Control and Computing: A Playwright’s Perspective on Alan Turing and the Law

This paper is about how To Kill a Machine, a play written by the article’s author about the life and work of mathematician and cryptanalyst Alan Turing, has inspired legal research into the nature of law. The questions posed by Turing: “what are computable numbers?” and “can machines think?” are reimagined as legal questions concerning the nature of law, law’s assumptions about appropriate behaviour, and a re-evaluation of Austin and Hart’s approaches to the command theory of law.

Ethics and Ethical Theories from an Islamic Perspective

With the collapse of many organizations, many researchers are increasingly paying attention to such phenomenon. But ethical issues are not always clear cut; there are many grey areas that need to be threaded with care by organizations. To determine whether an action or decision is ethically carried out, ethical theories, developed mainly by Western scholars, are the current theoretical framework organizations have at their disposal. Theories such as relativism, utilitarianism, egoism, deontology, the divine command theory, and the virtue ethics, are all products of Western understanding of what ethics are and how they are applicable to help one’s decision making process. Despite their utility, this paper intends to argue that the Western concepts and understanding of what ethics are limited and incomprehensive in explaining what is right and what is wrong. In its place, this paper argues that to understand the concepts of ethics that can extend beyond time and space. It has to be analysed from an Islamic perspective. Toward this purpose, this paper will compare and contrast between Islamic and Western perspectives of ethics, and highlight the main weaknesses and limitations of the former. Then, an argument on why Islam can provide the best understanding of ethics will be made.

“Lean not on your own understanding”: Belief that morality is founded on divine authority and non-utilitarian moral judgments

AbstractRecent research has shown that religious individuals are much more resistant to utilitarian modes of thinking than their less religious counterparts, but the reason for this is not clear. We propose that a meta-ethical belief that morality is rooted in inviolable divine commands (i.e., endorsement of Divine Command Theory) may help explain this finding. We present a novel 20-item scale measuring a belief that morality is founded on divine authority. The scale shows good internal reliability and convergent and discriminant validity. Study 1 found that this scale fully mediated the relationship that various religiosity measures had with a deontological thinking style in our sample of American adults. It also accounted for the link between religiosity and social conservative values. Furthermore, the relationship between the scale and these outcome variables held after statistically controlling for variables related to actively open-minded thinking and the Big Five. Study 2 replicated the results using naturalistic moral dilemmas that placed deontological and utilitarian concerns in conflict, and showed that the results of Study 1 cannot be explained by differences in moral foundations (e.g., concern for authority more generally) or differences in the perceived function of rules. Quite the contrary, endorsement of the divine origins of morality fully mediated the relationship religiosity had with the so-called “binding” foundations (i.e., Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity). Our findings highlight the importance of meta-ethical beliefs for understanding individual differences in moral judgment.

God and moral obligation

1. God and Moral Obligations 2. What Is a Divine Command Theory of Moral Obligation 3. The Relation of Divine Command Theory to Natural Law and Virtue Ethics 4. Objections to Divine Command Theory 5. Alternatives to a Divine Command Theory 6. Conclusions: The Inescapability of Moral Obligations

Brains, trolleys, and intuitions: Defending deontology from the Greene/Singer argument

Joshua Greene and Peter Singer argue, on the basis of empirical evidence, that deontological moral judgments result from emotional reactions while dispassionate reasoning leads to consequentialist judgments. Given that there are good reasons to doubt these emotionally driven intuitions, they argue that we should reject Kantian ethics. I argue that the evidence does not support the claim that consequentialism is inherently more reason-based or less emotion-based than Kantian ethics. This is partly because the experiments employ a functional definition of ‘deontological’ that is so broad as to include any non-consequentialist theory, including virtue ethics, divine command theory, and even rule-utilitarianism. Thus the experiments failed to capture the reasons behind the judgments. Also, the results of the experiments are partly due to the extensive use of moral dilemmas like the footbridge version of the trolley scenario. The options in these dilemmas involve different levels of moral thinking. The consequentialist option involves higher level deliberation while the non-consequentialist option involves the lower level recognition of morally relevancy. I propose an alternate dual process theory of moral judgment. Moral thinking, whether consequentialist or deontological, requires both sympathetic emotional processing and also dispassionate reasoning.

A Kantian Response to Jean Porter

Jean Porter’s natural law theory and my divine command theory differ less than one might expect. Two differences that remain are that, with respect to deductivism, the view that we can deduce our moral obligations from human nature, we agree that human nature is insufficiently specific, but she does not acknowledge the place of revealed divine law in later scholasticism or the role for what Scotus calls ‘dispensations’. With respect to eudaimonism, the view that our choices are for the sake of happiness, I do not agree that life presents itself to us integrated under the conception of a single way of life. Even in Aquinas there is a tension between his eudaimonism and his view that the love of God for God’s own sake is the distinctive mark of charity, and that charity toward the neighbor requires us to promote the neighbor’s good for the neighbor’s sake and not our own.

The "Mandate of Heaven": Mencius and the Divine Command Theory of Political Legitimacy

Commentators have recently turned their attention to the Confucian notion of the mandate of heaven. The question is: Is the ruler legitimate because Heaven says so, or does Heaven say so because he is qualified as a legitimate ruler (i.e., by the way he benefits the people)? The answer depends on how the notion of mandate of heaven is interpreted. In what might be called the liberal interpretation, the mandate of heaven lies in the will of the people. In what might be called the conservative reading, the mandate to rule lies in a heaven that transcends the people. To subscribe to the latter is to subscribe to what might be called the "Divine Command Theory of political legitimacy," analogous to the Divine Command Theory of morality. By contrast, the liberal reading of "mandate of heaven" is analogous to the "moral autonomy" position. Mencius' view on political legitimacy will be discussed in terms of the Divine Command Theory so as to permit a comparison with Kant's account of moral judgments. It will be argued that Kant manages to avoid being impaled on either horn of the Euthyphro dilemma by grasping both horns. In the same way, Mencius' view can be read as one that incorporates both the liberal and the conservative positions. It will be argued that such reading is more consistent with textual evidence and renders Mencius' position more coherent.