Re: Divine command and moral value in Judaism


"Micha Berger" <micha@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eui2h0$jmn$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, Mar 30, 2007 at 01:39:23AM +0000, Jim F. wrote:
: That's pretty much my take on Micha's article too. Much of Micha's
: argument seems to hinge on the thesis that God's creation of
: morality does not make it arbritrary and so this is said to provide
: a third alternative to the two that were discussed by Plato.
: But that IMO in no way upends the Euthyprho Dilemma.
: The gods might have their reasons for loving what they love
: but their reasons are not necessarily our reasons (and vice
: versa). If we choose to accept their commands as being
: morally binding on us that's because we have made
: a determination that those commands (and the reasons
: behind them) are good....

But that's not the dilemma. No one questions the existence of morality
independent of people.

: Any morality based on authority tacitly presupposes that
: the authority in question is good and that his/her commands are right.

I am saying that it's not based on G-d's moral authority, but based on
His authority as Designer. My hammer works better if I use it for what
it was made for. A person could not believe this line of reasoning, or
he could choose not to be as happy and effective as possible. Or, they
would follow the Doctor's orders.

I think the most obvious objection would be that human beings are
not hammers. Hammers are objects that have, to the best of my
knowledge, no ends or purposes of their own apart from those of the people
who manufacture and use them. Human beings on the other
hand do have purposes of their own, which may or may not
coincide with those of any putative creator. At best,
the argument you present above seems to be a prudential
one - God is smarter and wiser than us, therefore it is in
out best interests to follow His dictates. However, I would
contend, that assuming there is a God who issues commands
to us, these commands would only become morally binding
on us, if we determine that His purposes are good. If we
determine otherwise, then it would follow that His commandments
are not morally binding on us, although we might still follow
them for reasons of prudence. In any case whatever morally
obligatory nature these commandments might have, would
not follow from the fact they are commanded by God.
It might be prudent to follow doctors' orders but such
orders are generally not taken to be morally binding
on us.


Tir'u baTov!
-mi

--
Micha Berger A sick person never rejects a healing procedure
micha@xxxxxxxxxxx as "unbefitting." Why, then, do we care what
http://www.aishdas.org other people think when dealing with spiritual
Fax: (270) 514-1507 matters? - Rav Yisrael Salanter


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Divine command and moral value in Judaism
    ... The gods might have their reasons for loving what they love ... If we choose to accept their commands as being ... No one questions the existence of morality ... the authority in question is good and that his/her commands are right. ...
    (soc.culture.jewish.moderated)
  • Re: Is There Proof that God Exists?
    ... is a God, he did create the universe, he does have a plan for this ... happen to coincide with morality. ... question as to whether something is right because God commands ... A.J. Ayer, for example,in his book *The Central Questions of Philosophy* ...
    (soc.culture.jewish.moderated)
  • Re: Divine command and moral value in Judaism
    ... The gods might have their reasons for loving what they love ... If we choose to accept their commands as being ... be justified merely by an appeal to authority, ... slow on the uptake) - he's a self-styled legal expert, ...
    (soc.culture.jewish.moderated)
  • Re: Is There Proof that God Exists?
    ... Even if we posit a God, ... a vulgar error to think that we can ground morality through ... Classic theism atttempted to solve ... question as to whether something is right because God commands ...
    (soc.culture.jewish.moderated)
  • Locate vs Seek Command
    ... hearing that CDX files could get corrupted for a number of reasons, ... but the only reason I need the indexes is for some seek commands to ... order to avoid generating indexes, are CDX files necessary on free ...
    (microsoft.public.fox.programmer.exchange)