Topic > Euthyphro's Dilemma and its Effects on Our Modern Lives

A dilemma is a situation in which we have two possible choices and both are unpleasant. One of the ethical dilemmas in philosophy is the Euthyphro dilemma. In this article I will write about Euthyphro's dilemma. I will begin by briefly showing how Socrates arrived at this dilemma? Second: what is Euthyphro's dilemma? Thirdly, I will analyze each part of the dilemma and my point of view towards the same. Finally, I will discuss how the importance of causality in this dilemma impacts our lives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay To better understand the idea of ​​Euthyphro's dilemma, I will briefly show the path that leads Socrates and Euthyphro to this dilemma. Socrates was shown to be impious while Euthyphro wanted to prosecute his father. Socrates asks Euthyphro what is piety? Euthyphro's definition of piety was that what all the gods love is pious and what is hated by all the gods is impious. Socrates accepts this but asks Euthyphro two questions that lead him to two undesirable choices known as Euthyphro's dilemma. Euthyphro's dilemma is “Is it pious to be loved by God because he is pious or is pious because he is loved by God” (Cooper, 2009). To make this dilemma more understandable, I will write the same dilemma but with different words. “It is something good because God wants it, or God wants it because it is good” (Mawson, 2019). The first part of the dilemma says that an action is good because God commands it. This means that we judge and monitor our actions based on God's will. An action is good because God says it is good, and an action is bad because God says it is bad. This statement is also called divine command theory (DCT). DCT is an ethical theory that states that original goodness is the command of God. In other words “The status of an action as morally good is equivalent to its being commanded by God”. To analyze the first part of the dilemma in which God's command and will are pious, we will end up determining God's mercy. In other words "we put God as the source of everything therefore he must be the source of mortality". This means that we will see morality become arbitrary. Morality will end up in an unstable state where goodness changes according to the decisions of the gods. For example, if the gods say that genocide is bad, then we should not do it, but if the gods say that genocide is good, then we should do it. Therefore, when godliness completely comes under God's approval, the idea of ​​goodness and badness (morality) will become unstable and can change with God's desire. The second part of the dilemma that God commands an action because the action is good states that the goodness of actions is already within oneself. We can deduce that in this condition God's will or command has nothing to do with making an action pious since goodness no longer depends on God's command. In this part, where piety stands out as an independent standard , it is not God's command and approval. the more that makes it a pious action. This shows that God is not omnipotent and that even His power is limited. Thus, the source of piety or what makes an action pious is outside the authority of God. "This position denies that God is necessary for morality." Before I begin to discuss the effect of Euthyphro's dilemma in our contemporary life, I must take a stand towards the given dilemma. I agree with the second horn that God commands an action because it is good, for two reasons. First, by taking this position morality will not depend on the will of God and therefore will not become arbitrary. Second, the only reason we accept the first part of the dilemma is that, since God is good,. 2019].