PHIL 150 1st Edition Lecture 7Outline of Last Lecture I. The Presumed Connection between Morality and ReligionII. The Divine Command TheoryIII. Question to ponderOutline of Current Lecture I. The Theory of natural lawII. Religion and Particular Moral IssuesIII. Church TraditionsCurrent LectureChapter 4, Part 2The Theory of Natural Law- The dominant theory of ethics of Christian thought is the Theory of Natural Law- Three parts: Rests on a particular view of the world with values and purposes built into its very nature. Aristotle built this idea into his system of thought. To understand anything: What is it? What is it made of? How did it come to be? What is it for? Describe not only how things are but also how things ought to be. The world is inharmony when things serve their natural purposes. When they don’t, things havegone wrong. Beneficence is relatively uncontroversial. The “natural laws of morality” are just laws of reason; so what’s right is supported by the best arguments.- Generally rejected for three reasons: “What’s natural is good” is open to obvious counterexamples i.e. disease.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. Confuses “is” and “ought” Its view of the world conflicts with modern science.Religion and Particular Moral Issues- It doesn’t matter whether right and wrong are understood in terms of God’s will or whether moral laws are laws of nature, only the moral teachings of one’s religion- The scriptures and the church leaders are regarded as authorities; if one is truly faithful, one must accept what they say- The rhetoric of the pulpit suggests that there are distinctively religious positions on major moral issues that believers must accept- Good reason to think otherwise: It is often difficult to find specific moral guidance in the Scriptures The Scriptures and church tradition are often ambiguous- When people say that their moral views come from their religion, they are making up their own minds about the issues and then interpreting the Scriptures, or church tradition, in a way that supports the conclusions they’ve already reached.Church tradition- Every generation interprets its traditions to support its favored moral views- The moral stance taken by the church seems not to be derived from the Bible so much asimposed on it- Right and wrong are not to be understood in terms of God’s will; morality is a matter of reason and conscience, not religious faith; religious considerations do not provide definitive solutions to most of the moral problems that we face- Morality and religion are
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