Ethics! Supplemental Module S2: God & The Basis of Morality

God gives a present to a surprised woman.

Photo: Colleen Hayes / NBC.

Heads Up!

This is an older module, whose videos were recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown in Fall 2020. However, I have included it here as an optional, supplemental module. You are free to annotate its reading, do its video and module quizzes, and earn up to 200 bonus philosophy experience points. You are also free to completely skip it without penalty.

There will be no exam questions related to anything from this module.

Just be aware that you cannot use philosopher’s stones for Time Stop (M), Decipher Script, and/or Borrowed Knowledge on this supplemental module.

Finally, I now teach this course very differently from when I recorded these videos. So there may be references to assignments or other material that you are not doing. The good news is that any such references should be relatively minor. Of course, if you have any confusions, please do not hesitate to let me know!

Euthyphro’s Dilemma appears to pose serious problems with religious morality, the idea that morality is based upon the commands of God. Norman Kretzmann is aware of these problems, and so he uses the biblical story of the Binding of Isaac to illustrate a solution to Euthyphro’s Dilemma.

This module has 3 learning outcomes. At the end of it, you will be able to…

Describe the Binding of Isaac along with some different interpretations of it,
Summarize Norman Kretzmann’s attempt to justify religious morality in the face of Euthyphro’s Dilemma, and
Evaluate some challenges for Kretzmann’s solution to Euthyphro’s Dilemma.

Read & Annotate This:

The Binding of Isaac &
Abraham, Isaac, and Euthyphro

The Binding of Isaac from Genesis 22 & Abraham, Isaac, and Euthyphro by Norman Kretzmann

Context

Recall that Divine Command Theory holds that what is morally right and what is morally wrong is based solely upon the will of God. However, Euthyphro’s Dilemma suggests that either…

Morality is based on God’s commands, but then morality is arbitrary and without reason; or
Morality is independent of God’s commands, but then God is, strictly speaking, irrelevant to morality.

Since Divine Command Theory rejects option 2, it seems that the theory must accept option 1 and regard morality as fundamentally arbitrary. Obviously not a great conclusion!

Norman Kretzmann (1983) recognizes this problem, but nonetheless attempts to derive a position similar to Divine Command Theory that ties morality to God, using the biblical story of the Binding of Isaac as his point of departure. I have included the version of that story from the King James Bible (1885/2014b).

In particular, Kretzmann’s argument centers around the claim that divine perfection escapes the dilemma because it is not possible to separate out the notion of “perfect goodness” and “that which God commands”. On this view, right actions are right because God (or perfect goodness) “approves” them and because perfect goodness (or God) commands that they are right. Such a view is supposed to then resolve Euthyphro’s Dilemma for religion and morality.

One interesting thing to note is that, in contrast to his faith and obedience to God in the Binding of Isaac, Abraham also shows that he is willing to directly engage God in moral reasoning. For instance, when God reveals plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham tries to convince God that such an action would be morally wrong and unjust. I have included (in the optional “Curious for More?” section below) the version of that story from the King James Bible (1885/2014a).

Reading Questions

As you read, keep these questions in mind:

What are the three interpretations of the story of Abraham and Isaac that Norman Kretzmann considers? Which one does Kretzmann favor? What do these have to do with the Euthyphro and the relationship between morality and religion?
Why does Kretzmann reject both Theological Subjectivism (TS) and Theological Objectivism (TO)?
Kretzmann believes that the proper way to avoid Euthyphro’s Dilemma and understand the proper relationship between morality and religion is to consider God as a perfect being. What does it mean, according to Kretzmann to say that God is a perfect being? Why does Kretzmann believe considering God’s perfection provides an important link between morality and religion?
Putting all this together, how exactly does Kretzmann believe he has successfully resolved Euthyphro’s Dilemma?

Although I strongly suggest that you write out brief answers to these questions, you do not have to turn in written responses. You do, however, need to be prepared to answer questions like these on module quizzes and the unit exams.

References

English revised version of the King James bible. (2014a). Genesis 18 [Abraham pleads for justice]. Bible Hub. https://biblehub.com/erv/genesis/22.htm (Original work from 1885)

English revised version of the King James bible. (2014b). Genesis 22 [The binding of Isaac]. Bible Hub. https://biblehub.com/erv/genesis/22.htm (Original work from 1885)

Kretzmann, N. (1983). Abraham, Isaac, and Euthyphro: God and the basis of morality. In D. V. Stump, J. A. Arieti, L. Gerson, & E. Stump (Eds.), Hamartia: The concept of error in the western tradition (pp. 27–50). Edwin Mellon Press.