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Morality In Euthyphro's Dilemma

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If something is holy because god says it is holy, then God is decreeing that anything can be holy if he has given his approval he could say that murder or rape is totally acceptable, and we wouldn’t be the wiser. This would be completely arbitrary, and we would blindly follow whatever God says because one wouldn’t know what is holy from what is not. But if just God has the power to designate something as holy, then if there are many Gods one God might consider one thing holy and another one might not, for they could have differing opinions about this. People would claim whatever God best suited their interests and could still justify their actions because they are still living according to their God’s beliefs, but it would really encourage …show more content…

No one person has the right to choose their standard of morality because “holiness” can’t be reached by grabbing onto something tangible. No human being has the right to ask questions. Morality is not a standard of subjective reasoning, it is beyond human reasoning because it is God’s reasoning. People don’t have an opinion on what is good and bad because God emits the holiness and therefore his divine law determines what is good and what is bad. There is a universal definition of morality regardless of age, race, culture, or …show more content…

In Greece each city had a patron God that was important to them based on what values and traits were admired in the cities populations: ferocity, power, athleticism. These upheld not a standard of morality or holiness, but were more in line with maintaining the honor of the population. Socrates didn’t approve of the Athens gods because he found they didn’t hold up to his moral standards. They weren’t worthy of respect or reverence, they were too much like humans. They stabbed each other in the back and constantly changed their minds about things. Kronos overthrew his father and then Zeus overthrew his own for eating his sons. Kronos thought rebelling against his father was an honorable deed at the time, but didn’t feel that way when Zeus reciprocated his action. The way that Euthyphro justifies his own sense of morality is by saying that he is putting his father to justice as the gods did theirs. So what if the Gods themselves aren’t the standard of morality, but humans standard of morality. This is what Euthyphro himself is doing. He is equating his actions to that of a god, as if he is worthy to compare himself to a god. He is giving the stories he has heard about the gods as his object of holiness, without involving the gods own holiness. His standard of holiness is a faulty interpretation—that off trying his father because his father neglected a slave out in the gutter and he died.

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Socrates is treating Euthyphro as the teacher, when in fact Socrates is teaching Euthyphro. It seems like Euthyphro is not thinking along the right line at all. Let’s take into account the Divine command theory, which says that the moral action is the one of God says is moral and if God prohibits it then it’s not moral. This theory is widely held to be refuted by Euthyphro argument. Euthyphro, the argument, gives two alternatives to the divine command theory that either morally good acts are willed by God because they are morally good, or morally good acts are morally good because they are willed by God.

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Euthyphro suggest that what is pious is agreeable to the gods, and that impious is what gods disagree with. In response Socrates points out to examine whether the statement is pleasant to let it pass. Euthyphro agrees that it should be examines although he believes that is a fine statement. Socrates then sets up an elaborate argument to show that the two cannot be equivalent. Socrates starts of by making Euthyphro to consider that pious is agreeable by the gods because is holy so what is pious determines what is accepted by the gods.

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The initial definition Eurthyphro gave for piety was to prosecute the wrongdoer (6). He declared that it would be impious to do otherwise, even if the wrongdoer was your own father or mother. Euthyphro justifies his persecution of his own father by referencing back to the myth where Zeus, the most just of all the gods, bound his father

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To me, this makes sense but there is still can be differences of opinion, what all gods despise is unholy, which would then make what the gods love be holy to them. The third definition differs from the second because problems in the second are that not all the gods are going to agree with what is dear to them and then in the third, you will be unable to know what all the gods love or what they hate. No this definition does not improve on the second because you are then still running into the same problem that you are unable to speak for the gods and decide what is either dear to them or what they can all agree is love. Although the third definition somewhat improves onto the second, it is still inadequate. This definition that Euthyphro gives still cannot be used in a argument because of the speculation or opinions that could all be formed.

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Euthyphro’s Dilemma is when Socrates asks Euthyphro, “Does God love goodness because it is good, or is it good because God loves it?” Euthyphro’s Dilemma is that God determines what is good and evil, right and wrong. This dilemma challenges the Divine Command theory because according to Euthyphro’s Dilemma we would be obligated to do something wrong because God commanded it. This conflicts with the Divine Command theory because it would imply that cruelty could be morally right if God told us to do so. The idea that cruelty can be morally right goes up against the belief in the Divine Command Theory because it proposes that an action's status that is morally good is equivalent to whether it is commanded by God

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549 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the dialogue, Socrates asks tough questions that probe Euthyphro's understanding of piety, which is grounded in their traditional conception of morality. By questioning the nature of piety and the relationship between gods and morality, Socrates seeks to challenge the traditional assumptions about what is considered moral and what is not. For example, Euthyphro claims that what pleases the gods is pious (14b), but Socrates interrogates this claim, exposing the fundamental dilemma about the relationship between God and morality that had been accepted by society (10a). Socrates clarifies that his point is to bring into question the role of reason in morality, highlighting that reason should play a critical role in determining what can be considered pious, rather than blindly following authority, tradition, or other non-logical points of view (6a). He shows that our reason should be used to understand the nature of the gods and their relation to morality and that we must use this understanding to guide our actions.

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HUM2225 Dr. Hotchkiss September 30, 2016 Moral Insight Plato’s Euthyphro is based on a lesson between Socrates and Euthyphro outside of the Athenian court about the definition of pious or impious. Euthyphro was surprised to see Socrates there and even more curious to find out why he was there. Socrates explained that the court was persecuting him for impiety because Meletus was spreading rumors about him corrupting the Athenian youth. Euthyphro explains to Socrates that he was there to prosecute his father for murdering a farm worker named Dionysus.

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During his discussion with Socrates, Euthyphro agrees with much of Socrates reasoning. One of these many concessions is that “the gods love the pious act because it is pious”. This concession ultimately leads to Socrates defeating Euthyphro’s claim. Therefore, Euthyphro should have answered slightly different than just a defeated “yes”. However, because of Euthyphro’s definition of the pious, equating the pious to the god loved, the statement is circular in understanding, but it remains a true statement.

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The general principle established here is that if something is being changed or affected, it is not being changed because it is a changed thing, but rather it is a changed thing because it is being changed. Socrates then makes sure that they agree that something that is loved is being changed or affected. Next, they establish that something is not loved because it is a loved thing, but rather it is a loved thing because it is being loved. Socrates then reaffirms that Euthyphro still defines piety as that which is loved by all the gods. Now, he has set up his contradiction.

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The discourse between Socrates and Euthyphro clearly depicts a dilemma when it comes to the question on holiness, moral goodness and the will of God. While Euthyphro is of the opinion that what is dear to the gods is holy, and what is not dear to them is unholy, (Indiana University 6) Socrates seems to be of a different opinion. This discourse occurs at a time when there is a belief in many gods in Greece, each god having different duties. The gods are also known to disagree on a number of issues. Socrates, in trying to counter Euthyphro’s idea he opines that since the gods disagree, they must have different concepts of what is ethical and what is not.

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Hello Sir I have a question about the connection between God’s existence and morality. The Euthyphro dilemma summarizes Kant’s argument. Our motivation to obey God’s commands are either moral or not. If moral then the moral motivation to obey God precedes God’s command.

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The first premise reiterates the similar question Socrates had brought up in the Original Euthyphro Question by demonstrating the two alternatives of the Divine Command Theory. “Either an action A is right because God makes it the case” is essentially saying that action A is the right thing to do because God commanded it. Studying for a test would be the right thing to do because it is what is commanded by God and what God expects you to do. Studying for a test in this case is not necessarily the right thing to do because it help you prepare for what questions might be asked which will increase your chances of receiving a good grade, which is what one may assume, but solely God said so according to this of the Divine Command Theory. Similarly,

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951 Words | 4 Pages

He is certain that prosecuting his father is the just and moral course of action because he believed it was commanded as such by the divine who are supposedly innately good. Unable to see the soundness in Euthyphro’s claim, Socrates proposes a question that has become known as possibly one of the oldest ethical questions in the history of philosophy. Socrates proposes the following question to Euthyphro, “Is what is holy (or moral) approved by the gods because it is holy, or is it holy because it is approved by the

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Is Euthyphro pious in prosecuting his father? According to the Euthyphro, the main characters like Socrates and Euthyphro have their own notions about piety. The way the main characters understand piety is different from each other. The first, Euthyphro examines himself and brings evidence against his father.

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They associated each of their gods with a different aspect of life or nature. For example Zeus was the king of the gods, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, Dionysus was the god of wine, and the list goes on. The ancient Greeks erected massive temples to these gods for worship. Each god or goddess had his or her own temple for sacrifices or offerings. They Greeks believed sacrifice was necessary to appease the gods and keep everyday life fruitful and peaceful.

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