Question 3

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Cahn in his book envisions Confucianism as a moral principle that individuals use to make decisions on whether their actions are right or wrong concerning their interpretation of their religion. In his book, he urges people to include the voice of reasoning rather than just accepting things as they are portrayed by religion (Cahn 5). He subjects religious beliefs to critical scrutiny rather than advocating for the adoption of it as it is. In his view, Confucianism should integrate the system of scrutinizing religion using the canons of reasoning.
In the example of the concept of God, he acknowledges that both Jewish and Christian cultures teach that God is the lawgiver. The teaching is the foundation block of the divine command theory which states that “morally right” is commanded by God and “morally wrong is forbidden by God.” He, however, points out the challenge that atheist will not agree with the fact because they do not believe in God (Cahn 6). He further goes ahead to question whether something is right because God commands its or whether God commands it because it his right. In his arguments, he opens up room for reasoning before arriving at the final decision.
In another example from the book on God’s existence, he points out that if God is omnipresent then should not he stop all evil from occurring. In the view of reasoning, he supports that God lets us suffer to make us responsible. Although there is still room for an atheist to argue out the existence of God because of suffering exist(Cahn, 110).

He succeeds in showing how the voice of reasoning helps Christians to endure hard times.
Deontology seeks to explain rightness and wrongness through the evaluation of the action being undertaken. It is quite similar to what Cahn stands for since the voice of reasoning tries to evaluate the activity being scrutinized. The difference, however, emanates from the fact that the interpretation of right or wrong in Cahn’s Confucianism is hinged on the action from the eyes of God and not an individual’s view (Cahn, 110). In his argument, he tries to interpret the context through what God would have wanted unlike in deontology where wrong or right varies from one individual to the other.

Work Cited
Cahn, Steven M. Exploring Philosophy – An Introductory Anthology. 6th ed., Oxford, 2017, pp.
5,6,9,110.