PHIL WEEK 7 ASSIGNMENT
USNYN15
PHILROUGHDRAFT.docxEuthyphro Dilemma
Bruce Norcise
American Public System University
Date Question 4: Socrates question to Euthyphro whether acts that are morally good are willed by God considering that they are morally good or whether they are willed by God because they are morally good
The very idea that perpetuate that acts involving morality tend to be willed from God is still perplexing for many scholars. Denyer (2017) defines morality as the variability in the decision, intention, and action regarded as appropriate (good) and inappropriate (bad). Morality may involve some principles retrievable from particular code of conduct in a culture, a religion or an ideology perceived universal. Therefore, from the dialogues between Socrates and Euthyphro the dilemma tend to arise from the theism of philosophical interpretation of its meaning. The very monotheistic interpretation of these phrase scholars have regarded as not posing an actual dilemma but rather renders it as a philosophical and theological object to ponder (Walden, 2015).
The dilemma
Both Socrates and Euthyphro dialogue on the piousness of Plato’s philosophical problem on morality as it relates to theism. Euthyphro predicament leads up to the questions of whether what I regarded as being morally correct comes as a choice from God, or whether they tend to extensively hold some form of eternal truth (Walden, 2015). In their inquiry Euthyphro and Socrates contemplated on the problem to understand which one came first. According to them the gods must have been influenced to love moral good since they were morally good, and would not likely influence such moral good since when moral authority tend to be derived by good then they would not necessarily have to be morally good. Socrates claimed that gods could sometimes disagree among themselves as a proof in validating the claim (Denyer, 2017). Hence, Socrates advice that people must learn to ignore the second part of the sentence (Euthyphro dilemma) claiming that if a moral good has to be orally good on condition that it is loved by gods then it seizes to explain why moral good holds/ should be regarded as a moral good and further attempt to validate the claims together may have vicious consequences. Nonetheless, the Euthyphrodilemma do not score on the very nature of moral good but rather demonstrate the quality of a moral good (Walden, 2015).
God/ Divine command theory of morality
Denyer (2017) states the first dilemma to have risen is when moral right is held as true where it is a commanded by gods. Apparently, scholars such as Walden (2015), outline that objectivism, naturalism, intellectualism, and even rationalism are all suggesting to the view that there exist some moral good that tend to be independent with regard to the standards held for the moral goods. Therefore, where some of these moral standards as perceived goods are put to action they may be termed as wrong or even right. Whereas people will view some as right and wrong as depending on rational reasoning, again depending on gods command may restore the purpose for which they are issued and avoid confusion over their morality of use (Denyer, 2017).
Philosophical implication for the option
Consequence to gods’ sovereignty and freedom of will: Also for the critics of Plato’s Euthyphro dilemma they state that there exist independent standards of morality that gods would not have to necessarily adjudicate over. Similar to human beings gods are governed by some moral laws and do not necessarily establish those laws. Therefore, gods should always rely on their ‘goodness’ to a level that they lower themselves to conform to the moral laws (Walden, 2015).
