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The Euthyphro Dilemma

The Euthyphro Dilemma. Introduction. Euthyphro Dilemma. Socrates and Euthyphro arguing morality in ancient Greece Euthyphro is prosecuting his own father because he believes it is morally right Socrates asks how he would know if it was right or not.

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The Euthyphro Dilemma

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  1. The Euthyphro Dilemma Introduction

  2. Euthyphro Dilemma • Socrates and Euthyphro arguing morality in ancient Greece • Euthyphro is prosecuting his own father because he believes it is morally right • Socrates asks how he would know if it was right or not. • Euthyphro believes that if the gods say something is right then it is, and vice-versa. N.B. In ancient Greece they believed in a pantheon of Gods with different characters and powers (e.g. Zeus, king of Gods / Apollo, god of light / Aphrodite, goddess of love / etc) Also, we rely on the written work of Plato (a student of Socrates to tell us what Socrates taught)

  3. Socrates didn’t like this idea and wanted rational proof / argument to defend it. • He thought there must be more to morality than simply consensus of agreement. • So he asked: “Are actions right because the gods (or to us, God) says so or do the gods (God) approve them because they are right in themselves?” • This presents a number of problems…

  4. The Euthyphro Dilemma means… • In Greek times, the gods could not agree on much, this meant that what was morally right was down to a ‘majority vote’ – this means right and wrong are arbitrary so it doesn’t make it very ‘moral’ • If what is right = what God / the gods say is right then morality depends on whoever God / the gods are: if they are ‘corrupt’ in any way, then they could condone dubious morals (e.g. saying theft or rape are right)

  5. If God / the gods say that something is right in itself, then it takes away power from God. God is no longer the decision-maker; there is something ‘above’ him/them. This is a problem for religious people. • If God / the gods are removed from the process of deciding upon morality, then we still have the problem of where morals come from: • If it is from within us, then it is just as arbitrary as the gods deciding on a whim as not everyone agrees with what is right • If it is from ‘beyond’ us, then where / how? Even the existence of God doesn’t answer the question as the Euthyphro dilemma points out!

  6. Effects of the Euthyphro Dilemma • The question on the origin of morality is still one that bothers philosophers today – that’s what the rest of this unit will look at. • The Euthyphro dilemma leaves us with the following possibilities for the ‘origin’ of morality – none of which are satisfactory: • The gods / God decides (therefore arbitrary – especially if you believe in more than one God) • The gods / God agree with the inherent rightness or wrongness of an action (therefore they are not ‘in charge’ of everything) • Non-religious people = morality from within (therefore arbitrary again) • If we don’t know the source of morality, we can’t argue if something is or is not truly good without proof!

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