If we opt for the former position, then we risk reducing the proposition
> that God's commandments are right,to a mere tautology.
I've never quite understood this argument by my good friend Jim, which seems to confuse definition with tautology. To King Salman, what's "good" is what follows the will of Allah, as expressed through the teachings of Islam. (Or at least that's something like what he'd tell you, perhaps more elegantly.) I rather suspect Shane won't buy His Majesty's premise here, but it's still a sounder definition than if he were to say, "Well, to be frank, I just prefer it all this way." That would tell us a great deal about him, and nothing at all about "good."
But how does accordance with a Divine will fail as a coherent definition? (Yes, Shane, we know what you'll say.) I simply don't see the loop that would render it a tautology.
-- "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað."