Al-Ashari's View on Divine Command Theory vs. Mu'tazilites & Nielsen's Critique, Slides of Philosophy

Download Al-Ashari's View on Divine Command Theory vs. Mu'tazilites & Nielsen's Critique and more Slides Philosophy in PDF only on Docsity! Divine Command Theory Part II Al-Ashari on Divine Command Theory Background: • Al Ash’ari (874-936 CE) was a Muslim theologian and philosopher and the founder of the Asharite school of theology • He believed that the laws of God (Allah) can be discovered through revelation alone • He did not think it not possible for human reason to determine on its own what is good and evil • Why? Humans’ capacity for reasoning and judgment is limited and liable to error Kai Nielsen (1926- ) • Canadian philosopher and secular humanist • He adopts some aspects of ethical theories like Aristotle’s • He argues that even if there is no god, morality exists • For example, people still want to be happy • To have that, they need some sort of order in society • That sort of order requires security, mutual respect, and so on More on Kai Nielsen • Unlike al-Ash’ari, Nielsen is an atheist • He opposes Divine Command Theory (DCT) • For many years, Nielsen taught as a professor of philosophy at the University of Calgary and wrote numerous books, including Ethics without God (1990) and Why Be Moral? (1997) • He has also engaged in debates from time to time with defenders of Christianity (see e.g. his 1991 debate with William Lane Craig on “God, Morality, and Evil”) Kai Nielsen: Reason should override Divine Command Theory (DCT) • Use of reason is effective on its own (Enlightenment idea) • Reason should be the same for God and human beings (Kant) • Faith and Reason are compatible (Aquinas) • Natural law can establish moral precepts also