Euthyphro

Me …last night trying to sort this out!

Religion and morality Many people see a close connection Many ethical terms have religious connotations or origins Religious institutions can often endorse certain ethical positions or doctrines Philosophers and others disagree about what the connection is and whether there is one or not.

Start by Assuming God exists God is morally Good

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.

2 Forms of DCT Strong form God’s approving of it is what makes a thing a good action 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 Strong form of 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 “maddie” fund, then that is morally right. However if God commands me to kill another person then that is morally right. (Bus stop example)

The weak form 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

Problem of weak DCT 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”

Are there acts which violate the 10 C’s but are morally right? How helpful is DCT? Lets use the 10 commandments as an example The 10 C’s would suggest that something is morally right if and only if the action does not violate the 10 C’s Are there acts which violate the 10 C’s but are morally right? Are there acts that don’t violate the 10 C’s but are still morally wrong?

Cases of wrong acts that do not violate the 10 C’s Don the lucky drunk Driver DCT strong = 10 C’s true = Don’s action morally right DCT weak = not morally right What of cases of child pornography, internet spamming, public urination, vandalism?

Acts that do violate the 10 C’s but are morally right Working on the Sabbath to feed your family Stealing from the rich to give to the poor

Another example The Golden Rule “in everything do unto others what you would have them do unto you,” Matthew 7:12 Acts which violate the GR but seem wrong Consider Pete the pervert who loves groping strangers and being groped by strangers If the GR is true/right /good Commanded by God then Pete’s act of groping grandma Betty at Asda in the Avenue was morally right.

Acts which violate the GR but seem right A doctor who is allergic to penicillin but uses penicillin to treat her patients A hair stylist who gives a customer a haircut that the customer asks for, but the hairstylist himself would not want.

The Euthyphro Dilemma Plato (427-347 BCE) This issue is a very old one in philosophy. In the western tradition it dates back to Plato’s Euthyphro from the 4th century BCE In it the characters Socrates and Euthyphro discuss the nature of the pious or piety.

Euthyphro believes that the Gods love things because they are pious Socrates asks: Is the pious loved by the God’s because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the Gods? Euthyphro believes that the Gods love things because they are pious Socrates concludes that then piety must be something different from being loved by Gods

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