Definition of Theological Volunteerism
An act is right if and only if it conforms to God's will
So what makes an Act obligatory, forbidden or discretionary according to TV
an act is obligatory if God wills that it must be performed.
An act is forbidden if God wills that it must NOT be performed
And act is discretionary if God neither wills to be performed nor Not to be performed.
Euthyphro Dilemma
theological volunteerists do not know how to reject the objection that either "there is an independent standard of right and wrong" or "god's commands are arbitrary"
Keith said that the word "arbitrary" had two different meanings each time it was used in
What are the five objections to theological volunteerism?
1. Atheistic
2. Terrible command
3. Nihilistic
4. Skeptical
5. Divisive
Can you explain each objection to TV and their reply?
1. Atheistic: God exists: bite the bullet
2. Terrible commands: If God wills a terrible act then the terrible act is right: bite the bullet two ways
(1) Adams: true but God would never
commands something terrible
(2) Thomas Aquinas: yup because afterall,
what is the definition of the Hobbesian Contractarianism?
An act is right if and only if it conforms to the hypothetical contracted moral code of the agent's society
state of nature
state where there is no government or law (anarchy). ppl live in a "war against all".
What are five adjectives Hobbs use to describe life in state of nature?
solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short
four features of state of nature
1. resource is scarce.
2. men desire equally
3. ppl are egoistic
4. men are equal in mental and body capacity
Hobb's description of the state of nature and proposal of a solution
men are equal in desire and capacity, therefore, if two desire the same then there would be conflict. This leads war. In the SON, there are three main causes of war: (1) competition (fight for gain), (2) diffidence (fight for safety), (3) glory (fight for
What is the Sovereign supposed to do according to Hobbs?
He who has absolute power must:
1. make law (legislation)
2. enforce law (administration)
3. solve conflicts between men (jurisdiction)
assurance problem
Men need to be assured that if he lay down his weapons or abide to the moral contract then others would do the same so that they would not be a sucker and others be free riders.
State of amorality is correlated to a state of anarchy or SON.
Hobbsian Dilemma
Free rider> peace/government > anarchy/state of nature > sucker
Common consensus would make ppl want to move from SON to peace
Richard Brandt on moral sanction
legal rules are backed up by violence while moral rules are backed by conscience. this correlates to Hobbs idea that moral judge should not be just one person (sovereign) but rather each one of us to enforce morality. moral sanctions serves as a deterrenc
What makes an act right according to Ross?
An act is right if and only if it maximizes net prima facie rightness.
net prima facie rightness = pf.rightness - pf.wrongness
this formula comes about because of the idea that you might need to violate one duty to fulfill a more important duty.
what is duty proper?
duty proper is the duty that you must do after weighting all duties. in other words it is the duty that maximizes net prima facie rightness
What are the seven prima facie duties?
1. fidelity: keep faith
2. reparation: rectify your wrong
3. gratuity: repay kindness when someone go beyond their duty for you.
4. justice: give ppl what they deserve
5. beneficence: do good.
6. self-improvement: perfect yourself
7. non-maleficence: don'
what does the prima facie duty of beneficence entail?
prevent, remove, reduce harm as well as conferring benefits to others
Pretty much to increase the first three of the four intrinsic goods which are pleasure, knowledge and virtue in ppl
what does the prima facie duty of self improvement entail?
improving your KNOWLEDGE and VIRTUE. Notice that Ross left out pleasure because he thinks that humans are naturally/automatically inclined to find pleasure. Thus, it is redundant to add it in his list.
What are Ross's four intrinsic goods?
1. pleasure
2. knowledge ("intelligent understanding of the world")
3. virtue (good character)
4. justice (the apportioning of happiness to virtue/merit)