Divine Command Theory Essay

Deciding if an action is moral can vary greatly depending on which theory is applied in order to make a decision. A Divine Command Theorist would evaluate morality by consulting religious or sacred texts and by possibility consulting a religious authority on said texts. Through this approach the Divine Command Theorist would be looking for guidance from the “word of God” on the matter. A Natural Law Theorist on the other hand would attempt to decide if an action is moral by deciding the action's purpose and how it fits with the natural working order of the world, this idea is often coupled with the influence of religion as it's ideas are incorporated into many religions like Christianity. They would try through their version of science to
If the son were a Natural Law Theorist, he would again probably be influenced by religion. Instead of looking for a directive from the text of God, he would consider what “ought to be” concerning human life and ending it. For example, he might believe according to god, humans are meant to die on their own as life is sacred and follows a natural process from birth to death and people should not interfere with this by robbing life before its come to it's natural end. If the son were an Act Utilitarian, he would be free to consider happiness in his decision and decide if euthanasia caused the most happiness and least unhappiness. An Act Utilitarian could reason his mother's suffering would end and the family would be relieved she is free from pain. A Rule Utilitarian would consider if euthanasia adheres to a rule on the subject, which is made for the most happiness and least unhappiness. Perhaps it would be benefit his mother and family the most to perform euthanasia, but overall it may be a bad choice because its against a rule that states ending human life is a difficult decision and should be taken