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Divine attitudes, divine commands, and the modal status of moral truths

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2011

MATTHEW CAREY JORDAN
MATTHEW CAREY JORDAN*
Affiliation:
Department of English and Philosophy, Auburn University at Montgomery, P.O. Box 244023, Montgomery, AL 36124
*
e-mail: mjordan5@aum.edu
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Abstract

This essay presents a theistic account of deontic properties that can lay claim to many of the advantages of divine command theory but which avoids its flaws. The account, divine attitude theory, asserts that moral properties should be understood in terms of divine attitudes, such that an action is morally wrong just in case God would be displeased with the performance of that action. Among the virtues of this account is its ability to explain the modal status of fundamental moral truths, something that divine command theory cannot do.

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Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 45 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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