- Description
- 1 online resource (xi, 336 pages)
- Summary
- This work focuses on divine command, and in particular the theory that what makes something obligatory is that God commands it, and what makes something wrong is that God commands us not to do it. Focusing on the Abrahamic faiths, eminent scholar John E. Hare explains that two experiences have had to be integrated. The first is that God tells us to do something, or not to do something. The second is that we have to work out ourselves what to do and what not to do. The difficulty has come in establishing the proper relation between them. In Christian reflection on this, two main traditions have emerged, divine command theory and natural law theory. Professor Hare successfully defends a version of divine command theory, but also shows that there is considerable overlap with some versions of natural law theory. He engages with a number of Christian theologians, particularly Karl Barth, and extends into a discussion of divine command within Judaism and Islam. The work concludes by examining recent work in evolutionary psychology, and argues that thinking of our moral obligations as produced by divine command offers us some help in seeing how a moral conscience could develop in a way that is evolutionarily stable.
- Series Statement
- Oxford Studies in Theological Ethics
- Uniform Title
- God's command (Online)
- Oxford studies in theological ethics.
- Alternative Title
- God's command (Online)
- Subject
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [315]-327) and indexes.
- Access (note)
- Access restricted to authorized users.
- Contents
- Morality and religion -- What is a divine command? -- Eudaemonism -- Can we deduce morality from human nature? -- Barth on divine command -- Divine command in some medieval Islamic thinkers -- Divine command in some recent Jewish thinkers -- Divine command and evolutionary psychology.
- LCCN
- 2015938773
- OCLC
- ssj0001587515
- Author
Hare, J. E., 1949-
- Title
God's command [electronic resource] / John E. Hare.
- Imprint
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015.
- Edition
First edition.
- Series
Oxford Studies in Theological Ethics
Oxford studies in theological ethics.
- Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages [315]-327) and indexes.
- Access
Access restricted to authorized users.
- Connect to: