Introduction To Ethics

Follow the web links to Bob Dylan’s song “Highway 61 Revisited” for both the song and then the lyrics. Dylan begins with a retelling of a story from the Bible to fit the song. The other song that actually quotes from Plato’s Euthyphro is listed in question two “No Church in the Wild” by Jay-Z and Kanye West.

In light of that song and our course readings so far, please answer any two of the following questions:

1) What connection does that Bible story and Dylan’s song have with ethics and the so-called “Divine Command Theory” as espoused by Euthyphro? If we take the song, as some do with the first stanza especially, as a war protest song, how does the interpretation of the Abe story in the song change? Here is the Dylan song “Highway 61 Revisited” by Karen O (click on small arrow after “link”): LINK (Links to an external site.)
And here is the story of Abraham called by God to kill his own son (Dylan’s first line in his song refers to this story): LINK (Links to an external site.).

Here are Dylan’s lyrics in the first stanza of “Highway 61 Revisited” that relate to our topic for this week:

Oh, God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe said, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God said, “No” Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want, Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’, you better run”
Well, Abe said, “Where d’you want this killin’ done?”
God said, “Out on Highway 61”