Now, in dealing with Kant, and how he merged empiricists' and rationalists' views, I've noticed it very necessary to try to understand the intentions of the author. There are a few times I've admired Kant for his apologetics. I am afraid, however, that he holds the human logic too highly. I noticed this especially with his Categorical Imperative philosophy. In summary, this philosophy is that morality and all moral choices should be based on the thought that, "If this action I am about to take were performed on a universal level, would it maintain order?" or, "If everyone performed this, what would happen to society." As Dr. Olsen stated, "I want to cut in line, but what if it were made a rule that everyone could cut in line? What would happen after that rule?"
I have problems with this philosophy because of two ideas:
1) The idea Mashburn wrestles with is true: the gods love something because it is good (as opposed to the idea that something is good because the gods love it)
2) The survival of society is the most important thing
In rebuttal to idea 1: Kant's philosophy reinforces the theory that God acts a certain way because there is an intrinsically good set of laws in the universe that are not established by God. This, therefore, means that God is controlled by something other than Himself, which in turn makes Him limited, destroying His sovereignty.
In rebuttal to idea 2: If society were the most important thing, Swift's ideas and plans regarding the avoidance of economy collapse by killing babies and using them as supplies and food is a perfectly acceptable. This, of course, would save the society as a whole. But who is willing to step up and say that the murder of babies is acceptable, other than the hit men who work in abortion clinics.
I agree with Kant that there is an existence of morality, but to say that this morality can be found with this philosophy sounds more like an oversimplified way of keeping children who have grown up in line. It is a good way to conserve order, but not to define morality. Loving God and loving people should be the first two criteria in finding morality. Because God is the author of morality, moral obedience falls into place after these two issues are addressed.
Ad augusta per angusta,
Will Drake
1. I have had a problem with the Euthyphro dilemma since we first encountered it first semester last year, for the precise reasons you mentioned here. One must not separate the good from God. Good is an attribute of God, existing as He is the author of existence.
ReplyDelete2. I don't necessarily think even Society thinks society is the most important thing. People tend to look more to their own personal fulfillment and survival, more specifically in desperate times (unstable economy, war, a combination of two, and natural disasters). People might be willing to sacrifice innocent babes, but there is also the idea that we can't do that. Even people apart from the Lord see this as wrong. Scripture insists the laws are written on our hearts (Rom 2:15). Those without Christ do sense that, but we secularly define it as humanity (being humane.)
I love the two points that you hit on. Both rebuttals you made are so true. If God were to at any moment submit Himself to anyone or anything else, it would indeed diminish His Sovereignty because it would apply that He believes someone else is higher and more deserving of our worship (which just is not so. He deserves all glory, honor, and praise). What is sad about your second point is too few people actually care. There are people who vote saying that people should be allowed to abort their baby(ies). However, those who do not vocalize are just as guilty of consenting to it as the ones who say they are for abortion. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that we need to scream and yell at people going into abortion clinics but we do need to try and let them know why life is valuable (Jesus Christ gives us the reasons) and let them know where we stand, saying and doing all that we do in love, truth, and kindness.
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