Divine Command Theory

Micha Berger - along with Rabbi Hecht - is one of my main "rebbes" or mentors on Jewish philosophy.

This is student command theory in that this posting is a "command" or "demand" performance in that I requested Micha to compose this article.

Here is a teaser:
"In his essay "Euthyphro", Plato has Socrates ask a young student named Euthyphro, "Is what is righteous righteous because the gods love it, or do the gods love it because it is righteous?"

The Jewish spin would be to ask: Is an act good because Hashem chose to make it a mitzvah, or did Hashem command us to do it because it is good? What is the Source of morality?

The problem is that if you say that an act is good solely because Hashem commanded it, then He had no moral reason to tell us to do one set of things and not another. Can mitzvos be the product of Divine whim, the decision between "Thou shalt murder" and "Thou shalt not" entirely without any reason on His part? On the other hand, if there is an overarching definition of good and evil that Hashem conformed to, then we placed something "over" Him, something that even He is subject to.."

Now get yourself a block of time
And sip some coffee, tea or wine and

See the remainder @ http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2009/08/divine-command-theory.shtml

KT
RRW