Abstract

Since Quinn will be the commandments of God in 1990 called theological voluntarism theory, "theological voluntarism" in ethics and religious philosophy gradually been accepted by scholars, or to replace the "theory of God's commandments," the word, or use a synonym for the latter. However, the "theological voluntarism" is there are a number of dictionaries of philosophy, its meaning is different. This paper attempts to clarify the "theological voluntarism" in the sense that the general philosophy of dictionaries in the "theological voluntarism" which usually means belief in the theory and the use of different Quinn. On the other hand, in the study of medieval theology and philosophy treatises, the "voluntarism" is often used to refer to a confrontation with the theological theory of intellectual and philosophical traditions. This is the medieval tradition of voluntarism is Quinn alleged theological tradition of voluntarism, is a worthy subject of study. I try to point out, although the medieval commentators will claim moral obligation to do depends on the will of God, Quinn, Adams and others in the contemporary theory of moral obligation to God's commandments and the medieval theory of the will on the part of the consistency, the theory of moral value, but with some intellectual theory are similar, it can be regarded as the medieval intellectual theory and the overall pattern of voluntarism argument. Since Philip Quinn employed the term "theological voluntarism" in 1990 to signify divine command theory, it has been adopted in ethics and philosophy of religion as either a synonym of or a replacement for divine command theory. I argue that the term "theological voluntarism" in Quinn's terminology, standing for any theory which holds that morality depends on the commands or the will of God, has to be distinguished from the same term as it appears in various encyclopedia and dictionaries of philosophy, which signifies the fideistic position that religious beliefs have no need to be justified by means of rational proofs. While Quinn might identify theological voluntarism with the voluntarist tradition in medieval theology and philosophy, I argue that the divine command theories of Quinn and Robert Adams can be considered as an attempt at synthesis of medieval intellectualist and voluntarist doctrines