2005/02/18 by Thomas M. Osborne · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · #Classical Philosophy and Thought #Theology and Philosophy of Evil #Medieval Philosophy and Theology #Revelation #Philosophy #Judgement #Epistemology #Natural (archaeology) #Value (mathematics) #Scholarship #Theology #Law #Computer science #Political science #History
paper · doi:10.1017/s0034412504007218
openalex publication_date 2005/02/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Although this thesis is denied by much recent scholarship, Ockham holds that the ultimate ground of a moral judgement's truth is a divine command, rather than natural or non-natural properties. God could assign a different moral value not only to every exterior act, but also to loving God. Ockham does allow that someone who has not had access to revelation can make correct moral judgements. Although her right reason dictates what God in fact commands, she need not know that God so commands. Ockham's divine-command theory plays an important role in the shift away from a nature-based ethics, and it anticipates contemporary problems concerning truth in meta-ethics.