Euthyphro Dialogue

In the dialogue Euthyphro (Cahn and Markie), Plato presents an argument against the divine command meta-ethical theory. While the argument is presented against the predominantly pantheistic Greek religions, the argument can be easily applied to the monotheistic Abrahamic religions.

The dialogue starts off with the two main characters: Euthyphro and Socrates. Socrates has been indicted for corrupting the youth of Athens and Euthyphro is indicting his father for murdering a day-labourer who killed one of his servants through neglect. Socrates acknowledges that Euthyphro must be very knowledgeable on the subjects of piety and holiness which are integral to the Greek judicial system and that by learning from Euthyphro, Socrates might better be able to defend himself from the accusations against him. Using the Socratic Method, the two characters arrive at a number of definitions of what is holy. Since the first two definitions involve the pantheistic nature of their religion, they’re irrelevant to the argument used against the meta-ethical value of the Abrahamic religions, but the third raises what is commonly known as the Euthyphro dilemma.

The third definition for holiness presented by Euthyphro to Socrates is that what is holy is what is loved by the gods and what is hated by the gods is unholy. Socrates uses a linguistic argument to suggest that something in the state of being loved is in that state because something loves it, but that we love things because they possess some quality that makes them worthy of being loved. So the dilemma is whether God loves a thing because holiness is one of the characteristics it possesses or whether it is holy because it is loved by God. Socrates posits that all the gods love a thing because i...

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...good nor bad feels wrong to us. This is because, as the centre of our ethical system, God represents perfection and what humanity is meant to achieve. People simply wish to be good, and to be good means to become more like God, a central idea in a number of religions.

These answers are derived in large part from Christianity, but are similar to those developed by religions all over the world. They provide answers to the Euthyphro dilemma based on intuition and the desire of most people to be considered good people rather than looking for answers in logic as did Plato. Religion provides an easy and clear cut path to being a good person.

Works Cited

Aquinas, Thomas. "Summa Theologica." 2006. Project Gutenberg. .

Cahn, Steven M. and Peter Markie, Ethics: History, Theory and Contemporary Issues. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.