PODCAST · religion

Can we have Ethics without Religion? On Divine Command Theory and Natural Law Theory.

by Can we have Ethics without Religion? On Divine Command Theory and Natural Law Theory.

This exploration of religious morality begins with the universal prohibition against adultery found in sacred texts like Exodus 20:14 and Sura 17:32, reflecting a quest for objective moral standards to counter the subjectivity of moral relativism. This unit examines two theistic ethical frameworks within the Abrahamic traditions: Divine Command Theory (DCT), which equates moral obligations with God’s commands, and Natural Law Theory (NLT), which grounds morality in God’s purposeful creation discerned through reason. Addressing Module 4’s focus on fallacies and biases, we’ll critically assess DCT’s Euthyphro dilemma and NLT’s naturalistic fallacy, exploring whether morality requires religion or if secular alternatives, as hinted in Tolerance, Relativism, and the Erosion of Truth, can suffice.