User:DrRetard
I'm largely responsible for Free will, Free will and the problem of evil, David Hume, and a few other little entries in philosophy. I'm really not even that interested in free will, honest!
The second horn of the dilemma (known as divine command theory) faces several lines of criticism. First, it seems to imply that God could have made good things bad and bad things good—for example, that he could have made honesty a vice and rape morally right. It is a question whether divine command theory actually has this implication; but if it does, it has some serious objections to overcome. Was it was a mere whim that led God to make rape morally wrong rather than right? If so, morality is arbitrary, and it arguably has no real authority over us. This 'whim' view would be simply a variety of relativism, with morality determined by the arbitrary attitudes of a single individual. Moreover, the view is at odds with the standard conception of God as a rational being, one who has good reasons for his commands and attitudes. But if you reject the 'whim' view and say that God does have good reasons for his stance, it is arguably those good reasons (rather than God) that serve as the foundation of morality—and this would simply move us back to the first horn of the dilemma. A different objection focuses on the modal status of moral truths. Many see basic moral truths as necessary truths; if "rape is wrong" is a basic moral truth, for example, then there is no possible world in which rape is acceptable—i.e., rape doesn't just happen to be wrong, but rather couldn't have been rape without being wrong. But if God really could have given anything at all any moral status at all, then moral truths are without exception contingent.
Secondly, many hold that divine command theory is unable to make good sense of God's own goodness or the claim that God is good. For if, in general, a thing's goodness is grounded in the fact that God commands or approves of it, then God's own goodness must be grounded in his own approval or his conformity to his own commands—a troublingly circular foundation. Some argue that this would make "God is good" completely meaningless. Others argue that it would merely misconstrue "God is good", by making it a neutral description rather than a positive evaluation. After all, claims like "God approves of himself" or "God acts according to his own commands" don't look like praise, as we could say of even the worst villain that he approves of himself or acts according to his own commands. Of course, perhaps divine command theory needn't give the meaning of moral terms; perhaps it need only specify the supervenience base of moral properties or make an a posteriori property identification à la Kripke and Putnam (cf. Adams 1979, Cornell realism) . But even if meaning is set aside, given that we typically cannot make ourselves good simply by declaring ourselves good, it can still seem unusual to say that God's goodness is simply self-appointed.
Thirdly, there are the twin challenges of Moore's naturalistic fallacy and Hume's is-ought gap. Moore argues that, while ethics can specify the non-moral properties that make things good, it cannot use non-moral terms to give the meaning of the word 'good'. Thus, even if being pleasant is what makes things good, it is false to say that 'good' means the same as "pleasant"—after all, the question "this is pleasant, but is it good?" is a perfectly meaningful question. Likewise, if divine command theorists claim that "good" means the same as "commanded by God", then Moore will cry fallacy, on the grounds that "this is commanded by God, but is it good?" is a perfectly meaningful question. Moore focuses on meaning, but similar problems arise for entailment. For, as Hume notes, there is no obvious way for descriptive claims (i.e., about the way things are) to entail evaluative claims (i.e., about what we ought to do). And many, in the spirit of Hume, hold that you simply can't get from an is to an ought, not without smuggling in another ought claim as a bridging premise. Thus there can be no entailment from "God commands X" to "People ought to do X". You could smuggle in the bridging premise "People ought to do what God commands", but this is just another ought claim. And, as Cudworth argues, if you apply divine command theory to that bridging premise, you end up with circularity—with people's obligation to obey God's commands grounded in the fact that God has commanded it. These and similar criticisms are of course quite general, targeting not only divine command theory, but any kind of descriptivist cognitivism in metaethics; and stock responses to these criticisms can often be employed by divine command theorists.
Fourthly, some have argued that divine command theory can accommodate only two moral statuses—required and forbidden. If what makes things wrong is that God forbids them, then since all wrong things are equally forbidden, some argue, all wrong things are equally bad. This has the implausible consequence that telling a lie is as bad as murder.
Melt-Banana (1994-) is a Japanese noise/punk/grindcore band with a standard rock line-up (vocals, guitar, bass, drums). They started out without a drummer, and they keep going through drummers. But the vocals, guitar, and bass are so percussive that it's not a big deal. The singer and bassist are female and the band absolutely rends your ass live, so they have a bit of a following in the punk community. I'm a big fan -- I've seen them 5 times and I used to run a fansite.
Renaldo and the Loaf (1979-87) was a British experimental/art-rock group strongly influenced by the Residents. As such, the music was created with all sorts of instruments (real and toy), warped and looped and spliced. There were only two guys involved, one of whom has since turned psycho Christian and is trying to destroy the group's recordings.
Metamorphosis (1996-) is an Austrian/Czech group playing what can indeed be described as "contaminated chamber music" (violin, cello, guitars). My ex-girlfriend happened to catch them playing in Slovakia, she dubbed me the CD, then I happened to catch them playing in Nashville, and later I almost got to see them in Prague with my friend Tomáš (they cancelled due to sickness).
Zeni Geva (1987-) is a Japanese noise/prog/metal band with drums and two guitars. The frontman, K. K. Null, is also a solo noise artist, and he produced Melt-Banana's second album. They like songs with one slow, off-time, nasty-sounding riff played over and over again while Null screams "No hope!" in Japanese. I find it hilarious that the other guitarist used to be in the Boredoms. (Their name is a Japanese-German mashup meaning "Money Violence")
Zuby nehty (1993-99) was an all-female Czech art-rock band (guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, flute, saxophone). I found about them through a personnel connection with Uz jsme doma, downloaded a few of their albums, and then found out from UJD frontman Mirek Wanek that they had broken up. Bassist Pavla Jonssonová (neé Slabá) now lectures on gender studies at Charles University. (Their name means "By tooth and nail", and the two songs are "Still there is time" and "Flies in the apartment")
bert (1995-98?) was an Alabama noise/punk band that my friends and I saw several times in high school when they came to Nashville. They put out a zine on dissonant/noisy/atonal/etc. music, which was pretty important for my friends and me in retrospect.
Už jsme doma (1985-) is a Czech art/prog/punk band that I got into in high school -- they are the source of all my Czech-mania. They were influential in the underground 80s punk in Communist Czechoslovakia -- inasmuch as punk can sound like Pere Ubu, the Residents, and Etron Fou Leloublan. They connected with the Residents after the Velvet Revolution by publishing a book of Residents lyrics translated into Czech, and then performed the Residents' "Freak Show Live" opera in Prague 1995. This is how I found out about them. Later on, I started learning Czech by memorizing their lyrics, and I met my ex-girlfriend over Napster because we were both sharing mp3s of their music. I've seen them three times in the US and once in the Czech Republic. They probably won't tour here again. (Their name literally means "By now we are at home" or figuratively "Well, there you go" or "Now I understand". I once heard a Czech soldier say this in an elevator when we arrived at our floor. The two songs are "Go there, I don't know where, bring it, I don't know what" and "Traditional cat")
The Melvins (1985-) are an American art/punk/metal band best known for having practically created Nirvana (they went to high school together). Despite this, they're more in line with weird bands like Zeni Geva, Melt-Banana, and Mr. Bungle (they've toured with each of these bands), by playing slow, off-time, dissonant noise-metal. My friends and I in high school worshipped the Melvins, and I've seen them 5 or 6 times.
Mr. Bungle (1985-) are an American art-rock band who play the John Zorn game of mixing genres wildly. They started out as a death metal band, and then became ska, and then became more avant-soundtrack-noise-rock with all sorts of instruments and studio manipulation. Singer Mike Patton became well-known when he began singing for Faith No More, and now there are lots of cultish spin-off projects. These days Mr. Bungle is something of a touchstone for American experimental rock.
Thinking Plague (1982-) is an (American) avant-prog-rock band through and through. I don't know much about them, but here's some info: The Rock In Opposition (RIO) movement included bands like Magma, Henry Cow, Etron Fou Leloublan, Univers Zero, and the Residents. They did all the wacky 20th century tricks of odd meters, polyrhythms, dissonance, and atonality, while still sounding like a rock band. Thinking Plague is very much in this tradition.
Alamaailman Vasarat (1997-) is a Finnish band that play fake ethnic music in an avant-metal sort of way. This particular song is their take on Balkan brass band music (e.g., Fanfare Ciocarlia, Taraf de Haidouks), and the video mimics the movie Underground. They arose from the avant-prog band Höyry-kone. So far they have only two albums, but both are kick-ass. (Their name means "Hammers of the Underworld" and the song is "Your kebab or your life!")
The Residents (1972-) is an American band best known for being anonymous. Starting out in the late 60s and early 70s, They were influenced by popular rock, psychedelia, German electronic music, Harry Partch, and Zappa, and pretty much set out to be the weirdest band of all time. Being anonymous and all, they typically appear in eyeball-head tophat and tuxedo costumes, and they play fucked-up electronically-manipulated art-rock. They have connections here and there, with Penn and Teller, Gary Panter, Negativland, Matt Howarth, Fred Frith, Laurie Anderson, and other deviants. If you're a big fan, you'll find out their identity soon enough, and if you're my ex-girlfriend, you'll get to hang out with them at their house. I wanted to put more of their stuff on here, but it's hard to get short songs from concept albums.
Secret Chiefs 3 (1999-) is an American genre-mixing (avant-electronic-Islam-soundtrack-surf-western-metal?) tons-of-instruments band spun-off from Mr. Bungle. They've been known to play some Balkan brass band music live, so the Eastern European circle can be completed.
Dybbuk (1983-91) was the precursor to Zuby nehty. They were part of the underground new-wave/punk scene with Už jsme doma, and after Communism fell, they released an album produced by Mirek Wanek. Apparently they were big Vonnegut fans, what with the lyrics of one song ("Tygr") having been translated from the Book of Bokonon, and with another song about Kilgore Trout.
Tara Fuki (2001-) is a duo of Czech cellists who sing in Polish (Czech not being nasal enough, I suppose). Sounds a lot like Iva Bittová to me.
Iva Bittová (1985-) is a Czech violinist who plays something like art-prog-folk -- often just her singing with her violin. She's part of the Brno scene of prog-rock with Dunaj and Pavel Fajt, and was first given international exposure by RIO guitarist Fred Frith. My ex-girlfriend brought her stuff to my attention. Sometimes she goes into shreiking and caterwauling (you can chalk this up to Gypsy influence as much as anything), and according to my friend Tomáš, her performance at some Czech government gala alienated and embarrassed some visiting diplomats. I'd say those diplomats had, in the words of Charles Ives, "sissy ears". (The song title means "Stop searching")
Slayer (1982-), like Los Locos, kick your balls into outer space. Well, at least two of their albums do -- Hell Awaits and Reign in Blood. They defined Satanic speed-metal, enough to draw the attention of Bob Larson (author of "Satanism: The Seduction of America's Youth", and one of my favorite Christian retards), who toured with them doing research. Also some dude carved the Slayer logo into his arm with a knife -- HAIL SATAN! Drummer Dave Lombardo later joined the avant-metal band Fantömas with Mike Patton and Trevor Dunn from Mr. Bungle and Buzz Osborne from the Melvins.
The Evidential Argument from Evil by Daniel Howard-Snyder (Editor) Publisher: Indiana University Press (April 1, 1996) ISBN: 0253210283
God, Freedom, and Evil by Alvin Plantinga Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (December 1, 1977) ISBN: 0802817319
The Nature of Necessity (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy) by Alvin Plantinga Publisher: Oxford University Press; Reissue edition (September 1, 1989) ISBN: 0198244142
Philosophy of Religion: An Introduction by William L. Rowe Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 3 edition (August 15, 2000) ISBN: 0534574254
Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings by William L. Rowe Publisher: Oxford University Press; 3rd edition (September 1, 1999) ISBN: 0195155114
Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings by Michael Peterson, William Hasker, Bruce Reichenbach, David Basinger Paperback: 640 pages Publisher: Oxford University Press; 2nd edition (February 1, 2001)
Philosophy of Religion: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy) by Keith E. Yandell Publisher: Routledge (January 1, 1999) ISBN: 0415132142
Christian Faith And The Problem Of Evil by Peter Van Inwagen (Editor) Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (October 1, 2004) ISBN: 0802826970
Philosophy of Religion (4th Edition) by John H. Hick Publisher: Oxford University Press; 3rd edition (January 1, 2004) ISBN: 0199263477
Philosophy of Religion: A Guide and Anthology by Brian Davies (Editor) Publisher: Oxford University Press (September 1, 2000) ISBN: 019875194X
An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion by Brian Davies Publisher: Oxford University Press; 3rd edition (January 1, 2004) ISBN: 0199263477
Reason & Religious Belief: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion by William Hasker, Bruce Reichenbach, David Basinger, Michael Peterson, Michael L. Peterson (Editor) Publisher: Oxford University Press; 3rd edition (December 1, 2002) ISBN: 0195156951
Perceiving God: The Epistemology of Religious Experience by William P. Alston Publisher: Cornell University Press; Reprint edition (November 1, 1993) ISBN: 0801481554
On the Nature and Existence of God by Richard M. Gale Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Reprint edition (July 30, 1993) ISBN: 0521457238
The Existence of God (The Intl. Research Library of Philosophy) by Richard M. Gale (Editor), Alexander R. Pruss (Editor) Publisher: Ashgate Publishing (March 1, 2003) ISBN: 0754620514
God And Metaphysics (Studies in Analytic Philosophy) by Richard Gale Publisher: Prometheus Books (December 1, 2004) ISBN: 159102269X
The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and Against the Existence of God by J. L. Mackie Publisher: Oxford University Press (January 1, 1983) ISBN: 019824682X
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