Quotes

Leibniz on Divine Command Theory

Published on November 21st, 2009.

Thus, in saying that things are not good by virtue of any rule of goodness but solely by virtue of the will of God, it seems to me that we unknowingly destroy all of God’s love and all his glory. For why praise him for what he has done if he would be equally praiseworthy in doing the exact contrary? Where will his justice and wisdom reside if there remains only a certain despotic power, if will holds the place of reason, and if, according to the definition of tyrants, justice consists in whatever pleases the most powerful?

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G. W. Leibniz, “Discourse on Metaphysics, Sec. 2,” in Philosophical Essays, Roger Ariew and Daniel Garber, eds., trans. (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1989), 36.

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