• A woman is raped but decides she doesn’t want an abortion because killing is wrong and killing is forbidden in her religion.

• A man thinks it is alright to kill another man, because he broke into his house and threatened him with a gun.

What makes something good?

Outcome?

Intention?

Something else?

‘The unexamined

life is not worth living.’Socrates

Socrates: a biography• Born 469 BCE in Athens, Greece.

No recorded works, yet one of history’s most influential philosophers.

We know of Socrates through the writings of his student Plato.

Often described as rotund and ugly, he was known for talking to anyone and engaging them in philosophical debate.

His commitment to philosophy meant that personal hygiene came second place- he was often barefoot and dirty and had very few possessions.

Socrates aim was not to tell others the truth – he often claimed to be ignorant of it himself – but rather to help them discover it for themselves as best they could.

The Euthyphro Dilemma is a response to Divine Command Theory

Divine Command Theory

If God commands something then it is good.

1. God is always right

2. If God appears to be wrong, refer to point 1 above.

Theists position

Goodness intrinsic to God

Divine Command Theory

• Something is morally good if and only if God approves of it.

• An action performed by a person is morally right if and only if the action is what God commands or desires a person to do at that time

Example

• I just whacked myself on the head with a book. Was that the right thing to do?

• If God wished me to do it at that time then yes!

• If God didn’t want me to do it at that time it wasn’t.

God’s approval is what makes a thing a good action

So this means:

• Morality is nothing more than God’s pronouncements, commandments and attitudes.

• In short, If an action is right, it is right because God commands it.

Problem with DCT

• God’s commands could be arbitrary no matter what other feature the action has.

• E.g. If god commands me to donate a large amount of funds to the Pakistan Flood fund = morally right.

• If God commands me to kill another person = morally right.

Things are good or actions are right on grounds independent from God’s commandments

• It is not God’s commandments that make actions right or things good.

• Instead It is because they are right or Good that God commands them

The Alternative

Problem

• Something else besides God makes things good or bad, right or wrong.

So shouldn’t we be more concerned with what this something else is?

• It makes God’s commandments more of a “handy guide”

The Euthyphro Dilemma

A very famous argument in moral thinking between Socrates and Euthyphro found in Plato’s The Last Days of Socrates.

It kicked off when Socrates asked Euthyphro what he thought was ‘good’.

Why Euthyphro?• Euthyphro was taking his

father to court for the mistreatment of a slave (must know about morality).

• Socrates was on trial for the ‘crime’ of stirring up trouble in the city’s youth – facing the death penalty.

•Socrates was going to be executed for doing something ‘wrong’ so wanted to find out what ‘wrong’ actually meant.

The Euthyphro Dilemma• During the debate Euthyphro suggests

that what is ‘good’ is what the gods would be pleased with…

Socrates ends the argument by asking Euthyphro…

Are actions ‘good’ simply because the gods command them …

Or

Do the gods command certain actions because they are ‘good’?

or

The Dilemma Should religious people do

things their god(s) commands them to do even if they otherwise think what they’re being asked to do is wrong?

Role of the gods?• The issue raised by the

Euthyphro Dilemma means that either:..– the gods are Experts on

the rules of morality and will instruct us on how to be ‘good’

– the gods are Engineers and construct the rules of morality and decide what is ‘good’

Describe the Euthyphro Dilemma (4KU)

4min

Describe the Euthyphro Dilemma (4KU)

• Plato told the story• Socrates and Euthyphro at court, Socrates being

charged with impiety• Socrates attempts to find out what is ‘good’• Euthyphro suggests that ‘good’ is what the gods

are pleased with• Socrates counters: are actions ‘good’ because

the gods command them or do the gods command certain actions because they are ‘good’

• Either the role of the gods is as experts who instruct us on morality or as engineers who construct morality for us.

What issues are raised by the

Euthyphro Dilemma?

If the gods are Experts…

• So if God is a moral expert, there must be some set of moral facts about which he is an expert. And these facts cannot depend on him for their truth or falsehood.

• This implies there is something above / beyond God

If the gods are Engineers…• This interpretation makes morality dependent

on the gods. This implies that everything is morally neutral prior to God's approval.

• What if he approves of something that seems terrible, such as genocide?

Euthyphro’s Problem• Suppose Euthyphro was hanging about and

hears a godlike voice telling him to kill the next person who passes him. He is convinced he has heard the voice of the gods and he has been brought up always to obey the commands of the gods, because they only command what’s right. Should he kill?

• Even if he thinks it is wrong (which he does) surely the gods wouldn’t command it if it was wrong?

What issues are raised by the Euthyphro Dilemma? (4KU)

• The main issue raised is the relationship between the gods and morality.

• If the gods are engineers morality is arbitrary – on a whim.

• If the gods are experts morality is independent (and therefore ‘above’ the gods).

So how do religious people ‘hear’ from their god(s)?

Directly as a voice/vision or a sense of presence.

Indirectly through the interpretation of something that happened.

An answer to a prayer. The study of sacred texts. The teachings of a member of the faith group. Historical teachings.

To what extent can these means be trusted?

Socrates: a biography

• The trial and execution of Socrates, dramatized by Plato, has inspired many thinkers and artists through the centuries.

• Considered to be a dangerous and subversive influence, he was eventually arrested and charged with refusing to acknowledge the gods of the state, introducing new ones and corrupting the young.

The Last Days of Socrates• Socrates never found a

solution to the Euthyphro dilemma and what makes something ‘good’

• The Athens court could not explain what was ‘good’ either, but nevertheless Socrates was sentenced to death.

• Socrates was condemned to death by drinking hemlock, he refused a chance to escape and, surrounded by his friends, embraced death with great dignity.

• Socrates died in 399BCE, Athens.

The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787).

Plato Following the execution of

Socrates, Plato left Athens in disgust. He travelled in Italy, Sicily and Egypt before returning to Athens to found his Academy in 377BCE.

The Academy was the Western’s world’s first university. Many great intellectuals were schooled there, including Aristotle.

Discussion

• If there was such a thing as god(s) do you think he / she / it / they would command you to do something which was wrong?

Morality and KillingIs killing right or wrong?

Would god(s) command it?

This depends on who you ask… Some people say that ‘no killing’ is an

absolute rule – it never wavers and always applies.

Other people say that ‘no killing’ depends on lots of things and so it is a relative rule – it depends on the situation.

Time Out! Is there anything

which you think is always wrong no matter what?

Or, is what’s right and wrong related to the situation?

Some possible responses! It is wrong in theory to kill, but sometimes the

situation demands it.It is wrong in theory to kill and so it is wrong to

do it no matter what the situation. It is theoretically right to kill in certain situations

and so right to actually do so.It is theoretically right to kill in certain situations

but is actually wrong to do so.

• NB: this also applies to those who have viewpoints independent from religious beliefs.

Discussion

Is it more important to do the right thing if you believe in an afterlife?

What issues are raised by the Euthyphro Dilemma? (4KU)

4min