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The Euthyphro dilemma

The Euthyphro dilemma. Michael Lacewing enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. The question. Can God make right be wrong, or good bad ? Is morality whatever God wills it to be or is morality something independent of God ?. The first lemma.

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The Euthyphro dilemma

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  1. The Euthyphro dilemma Michael Lacewing enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk

  2. The question • Can God make right be wrong, or good bad? Is morality whatever God wills it to be or is morality something independent of God?

  3. The first lemma • If morality is independent of what God wills, then God cannot make what is wrong be right • God wills what is morally right because it is right. • But then, to be good, God must conform his will to something independent of himself • This places a constraint on God, and God is not omnipotent.

  4. The second lemma • If morality is whatever God wills, then if God wills what is (now) morally wrong, then what is wrong will become right • What is morally right is right because God wills it. • But then, ‘God is good’ states a tautology – whatever God wills is, by definition, good. • And morality is arbitrary • Why does God will what he wills?

  5. ‘God is good’ • ‘God is good’ = ‘God is good to us’ • God wants what is best for us • But then what is best for us provides an independent standard for God’s goodness, so morality is independent of God. • ‘God is good’ is not moral, but metaphysical, i.e. ‘God has all perfections’ • But does that entail that God is morally good? • If so, ‘God is (morally) good’ is a tautology • If not, then morality is independent of God.

  6. Morality is arbitrary • If morality is dependent of God, whatever God willed would be morally right • Killing babies? If God willed it? • There are no reasons for God to will what he does. • Reply: God’s will is guided by God’s love • Objection: this makes love the standard of morality • Reply: no, God’s love – so nothing independent of God • But is God’s love arbitrary?

  7. Properties and concepts • It is not an analytic truth that God is good • ‘God’ and ‘morally good’ are different concepts. • However, goodness is the same property as what God wills. • Compare: it is not an analytic truth that water is H2O • ‘Water’ and ‘H2O’ are different concepts • But water is identical to H2O. • Good = what God wills, not conceptually but metaphysically.

  8. Knowledge and reality • But unless we have an independent standard of goodness, we cannot claim that God’s will and what is good are the same thing. • True, just as we can only judge that water is H2O if we have some independent idea of what water is • But this doesn’t show that water is not H2O, • So we need some reason to think that morality is what God wills but that doesn’t show that they are distinct.

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