Journal #4 – Chloe Park

Throughout this week, I was very interested in Professor Perrone’s powerpoint and lecture. I felt his teaching presence was very captivating. In Michael Quinn’s Ethics for the Information Age, the author introduced nine ethical theories. I was particularly interested in the Divine Command Theory, which is based on the idea that good actions follow the will of God and bad actions are those of contrary to the will of God. Since I grew up in a predominately Christian family, I felt a strong moral connection to this theory, for we owe obedient to our all-good and all-knowing creator because God is the ultimate authority spiritually. However Professor Perrone seemed to be against this theory since he declared himself as a non-secular person. He questioned the moral objectives of the holy bible and how scripture doesn’t address all moral problems. To some extent, I agree with his position against scripture. For example, the bible addresses homosexual sex /desires/ and marriage as as lustful sin in Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:26-27. However as time has changed and progression for gay rights have been approved and embraced, is the bible/ is the Divine Command Theory negotiable and flexible? Questions like this and moral dilemmas such as a Christian raised homosexual, raises ethical concern and moral judgement. In the beginning of class, I was all in favor of the Divine Command Theory, but after much discussion and thought, my perspective has been significantly altered and I am no longer in favor. I think the most applicable theory is Ethical Egoism, the philosophy that each person should focus exclusively on his or her self-interest for it’s a practical moral philosophy and it empowers people to take care of themselves. When individuals protect their self-interests, the society benefits. At the end of the day, we as a society, have different social contexts and demand different moral guidelines. We all act in our own self-interest to maximize the long-term benefit.