After reading your classmates thread below write a reply that interacts with your classmate’s thread and presents a well-reasoned alternative to his or her approach to the issue. You do not have to defend a position that is diametrically opposed to your classmate’s position, but you do need to either defend a position that is significantly different from his/hers or defend the same position in a very different way.
The goal of this is to help your classmate to improve his or her theory, so make your criticisms constructive. Be charitable – don’t assume that your classmate is making stupid mistakes, but instead where multiple interpretations are possible, assume that you classmate meant whichever interpretation would make more sense. However, don’t hesitate to point out disputable assumptions, faulty arguments, and alternative possibilities if you are convinced that they exist. In short, criticize politely. If possible, you must reply to a classmate to whom no one else has yet replied. Treat your classmate’s opinion with sensitivity and respect. This is a university-level writing assignment. Therefore it must be carefully proofread, free of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Do not use slang, emoticons, or abbreviations (as if you are texting or sending an email to a friend). Your reply must be 500–600 words. You will be penalized for falling short or exceeding the word count. Any quotes or information used from sources other than yourself (including your classmate’s thread) must be cited using footnotes in current Turabian format and will not count towards the total word count.
Classmates post to form reply on
Ethical egoism is a theory that says, “you ought to do whatever will benefit you the most” [1]. The Divine Command Theory says, “what is good is good because God demands it” [2]. From the beginning, we can see that these two theories may have some conflicting ideals just based on the definitions that are given. One may also argue that Christianity can not relate to egoism at all. Christians are known for the selflessness that they carry. At first glance, it seems like ethical egoism is the opposite of selfless. Followers of ethical egoism consider good being whatever benefits them and since it is based on each individual and what is good for them in whatever their situation is, then that is how they claim to know what is good. They are literally making the decision themselves at any given moment. Divine Command Theory, on the other hand, tells us what is good by looking at Scripture and what God has commanded is good. Regardless of what your situation is or what the outcome looks like when doing “what is good”, it is what is meant for you and what is good because God says so.
So we can see that the main difference is that Christianity really focuses on doing good for others, regardless of the outcome that is has for you and that Ethical Egoism says that focusing on what benefits you the most is the best way to go about it. Then we have Divine Command Theory that says we do not determine what is good at all. God and only God does that. These two theories could not seem any more different but they do, in fact, have some similarities when you look deeper into them. One author proposes that “…Ethical Egoism aligns with most of the principles of common-sense morality such as respect, honesty, beneficence, and following the golden rule – all because it is very probable that following such moral principles best promotes our long-term interest” [3]. So clearly there are valid arguments that are able to show us how Ethical Egoism could relate to Christians and to the thought that the Divine Command Theory brings forth in that God sets what is good. After all, the Bible tells us that respect, honesty, and many other related morals are important and supported by God.
In conclusion, I feel as though the Divine Command Theory is a stronger ethical theory. We see the Scripture, we know what we are taught in church, and although we all live different lives, we know what is truly good. We know the differences between right and wrong. This is because God puts it on our hearts, although they “are not set in stone” as Plaisted writes [4]. Plaisted writes another good point saying, “…the disparity in people’s notions of what is right does not rule out God’s being the creator of them” [5]. As a Christian, it is difficult to imagine anyone other than God determining what is good… even myself.
