Review

Write a reply that interacts with the selected thread and presents a well-reasoned alternative to the approach to the issue. In the reading, you need to either defend a position that is significantly different than the reading or defend the same position in a very different way.

——–Reply to The Reading below———-

To begin, one must understand what a theory believes to moral (good). Social Contract Theory defines morality as what a society determines it to be. “our moral beliefs are a social construct, created by cultures, often over long periods of time, and they are culturally relative (Jones 2017, 97).” To put this in terms one might be able to visualize, in the United States, citizens are entitled to their inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In comparison, there are still many countries where women do not hold rights and are often considered the property of the husband or father. In Divine Command Theory, there is no separation of views between people or societies. Moral is what God deems moral; He has written laws and commands for us to follow in accordance with what is good and bad in His eyes.

Inevitably, research is conducted to understand where the ideas of morality come from in both theories: how does one know these goods are in fact good? Ironically, Social Contract does not have an answer. “… There must be a conception of moral goodness that is over and above the social contracts being compared, some moral standard to which they can be held. Social Contract Theory does not really explain where this concept of good comes from (Jones 2017, 97).” In contrast, Divine Command Theory simply states that God is the source of everything. He is the beginning and end of life and creation, He cannot be wrong, and therefore, is why they know that moral is moral. This idea of knowing the source of morality and how it is defined are the major differences between both theories. One is a joint effort among peers and the other follows the call of a higher being. No similarities are found between the two.

In my opinion, and as the reading material shows, neither theory comes without question. However, in comparing the two I know Divine Command Theory to be the stronger of the two. My strongest argument is in what each theory believes to be good. As a society, many opinions are collected and what the majority concludes to be acceptable is not always morally acceptable to everyone. As a young nation, the United States allowed for the owning of slaves in many of its states. As a culture and in certain religions, killing in the name of a god is acceptable. I have personally worked in remote locations where women are not considered human beings: my female colleagues, though understanding of the culture, suffered criticism, and emotional/psychological stress. Collectively, each scenario contains unfair treatment to many. With Divine Theory, at its weakest point, we see that there is a dilemma with the possibility of a presence other than God. In other words, it does not question morality. What is good would still be good, we just don’t understand if what is good is because God said it was or if “it” was already good and therefore God said it was good. Now, if we dove into this deeper then I’m confident many “what ifs” could be accounted for. However, I conclude by stating that we believe and know that God, and everything that comes from Him, is good. Therefore, nothing can compare to him.