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When religious adherents claim that murder is wrong because God says that it is, they are implicitly espousing the _______.

User John U
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Final answer:

Religious adherents claiming murder is wrong because God says so are implicitly supporting Divine Command Theory. This theory holds that morality is strictly based on God's commands, rendering human judgment irrelevant when evaluating the ethical nature of an action. This perspective is challenged by the Euthyphro Dilemma, which questions the arbitrariness of divine-based ethics.

Step-by-step explanation:

When religious adherents claim that murder is wrong because God says that it is, they are implicitly espousing the Divine Command Theory. This philosophical stance holds that an act's ethical status is determined directly by God's commands. According to this theory, something is 'good' because God commands it, and conversely, something is considered 'bad' because God forbids it. This becomes particularly contentious when considering acts stated in various scriptures or perceived commands from a deity that might conflict with common moral intuition or reasoning, such as the imagined divine sanction of acts like murder or slaughter of thousands of innocent people. This position is critiqued by the Euthyphro Dilemma, which questions whether morality is arbitrary or absolute beyond divine decree. Therefore, within the context of Divine Command Theory, moral reasoning and the nature of actions like murder are not subject to human judgment but are rather seen through the lens of divine authority alone.

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