Euthyphro Dilemma
- Created by: sky.7
- Created on: 03-05-20 22:51
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- Euthyphro Dilemma
- The dilemma is whether God commands things because they are good, or are things good because God commands them?
- Does good exist independenty and separate from approval, or does good exist as a consequence of it being approved?
- Does God love x because x is good?
- Is x good because God loves it?
- Plato
- Student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle
- "Is that which is holy loved by the gods because it is holy, or is it holy because it is loved by the gods?"
- Constructed a dialogue between a man called 'Euthyphro' and Socrates
- The dialogue engages about moral goodness
- a) Does God decide what is good and what is bad?
- b) Or do moral values come from an independent source which is totally separate from God?
- What makes an action good?
- 1) Is it good because God commands it?
- If God's commands make things good, then it would be considered morally right if God commanded that "**** is right"
- Problem: God is seen here as a divine dictator as whatever God commands is the law
- If God's commands make things good, then it would be considered morally right if God commanded that "**** is right"
- 2) Or because God commands what is good?
- Problem: Goodness does not originate from God. Goodness is an independent standard and God is the enforcer of this standard
- However, in the Bible, God is pictured as perfectly good - He sets the standard of what is good or bad
- 1) Is it good because God commands it?
- Stories of the Bible
- God tests Abraham (Genesis 22)
- God asks Abraham to offer his one and only son as a sacrifice
- Kierkegaard asks if it is ever reasonable for man to be asked to abandon what is intrinsically good, in order to fulfil the demands of faith?
- He reached the conclusion that it is, as faith is the highest virtue
- Kierkegaard argues that we should not confuse morality with doing the will of God
- God permits Satan to torment Job, causing him great suffering
- Habgood argues that Job was ultimatelysatisfied by hearing from God directly in his suffering
- God tests Abraham (Genesis 22)
- The dilemma is whether God commands things because they are good, or are things good because God commands them?
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