I believe grounding moral content of law into metaphysical accounts is a great way to "explain" things, that is, you can say something along the lines that God does everything, God is all good, we must obey God, and, drawing from this, we can put all of our knowledge and faith into God. So, yes, this is a great way to design a metaphysical hierarchy, as God explains all. However, I think there are a few problems with this viewpoint.
First, I think--even though I believe in God--basing everything in God's hands is a cop out--that is, it's easy just to answer any difficult question with something like "Well everything is a part of God's plan" or "God is above us, so we can't know". So in this regard, even though I believe in God, I think parts of this setup reveal a rationality weakness, a cop out any time someone poses a difficult question to this kind of set up. (Say I asked something like "Why is right/just of God to allow the Nazi's to kill thousands of Jews? Someone may just say well "Only God knows why" or "It's a part of his divine plan")
My second problem with placing all moral values/laws in God's hands is suppose God is somehow really bad or just morally neutral. Suppose he isn't "all good" like we really think and wants to actually hurt or trick us with the power he wields. Giving all power to one individual may be a bad idea because that individual may not do what is best/fair for all individuals. (Though I suppose again a faith argument has to come in that God is all good)
Lastly, I'd like to say that you do not need a "God" figure to have morality or universals. I think some type of "moral rule" (aka the categorical imperative) based in rationality alone (something like "do on to others as you want done on to you") can suffice for a universal standard of action.
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I agree with what you say about saying "everything is part of God's plan" is a cop out. I feel like some people say things like that when they really have no explanation and don't feel like actually finding out why something is. Whether or not there is a higher power, people shouldn't just blame or say unsolved things are a part of "God's plan."
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the idea that God could be bad. I feel as though- if there is a higher power that is bad- then it is not the religious figure of God. My reasoning for this argument is that every great power has a nemesis. Batman has the Joker, Jesse James had the law. I cannot think of a great power (fictitious or real) that does not have a counterpart. So if there is a greater power that is evil- and is trying to trick us- I feel there must be an equally great power trying to stop that from happening- thus that would be the "God" we worship.
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