1. Plato’s Euthyphro

2. Questions to answer 1. Socrates asks Euthyphro to define piety. What is Euthyphro’s first answer? How does Socrates criticize it? 2. Why is the gods disagreeing a problem for Euthyphro’s 2 nd definition? Do religions with one god have a similar problem? 3. “Does God love the pious because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by God?” (10a) Explain this dilemma. 4. Why does “the gods love the pious because it is pious” show that Euthyphro hasn’t defined piety? 5. What’s the problem with saying the pious is pious because God loves it?

3. 1. What is Euthyphro’s first answer to Socrates? What’s wrong with that answer? Euthyphro tries to define piety with examples (prosecuting murderers, robbers, etc.). However, examples do not tell us what all pious actions have in common. We could not use examples to figure out if other actions fit the definition.

4. 2. Why is divine disagreement a problem for Euthyphro’s 2 nd definition? Is there a similar problem for monotheism? Euthyphro proposes that what the gods approve is good, and what they disapprove is bad. But if the gods disagree, then a particular act may be both good and bad. That would give us no answer to what is good. A similar problem for Jews, Christians, and Muslims is conflicting interpretations of religious teachings. A similar problem for anyone is evaluating the competing claims of monotheist religions.

5. 3. “Does God love the pious because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by God?” Does God give moral standards because they are moral, or are they moral standards because God gave them? If God gives morals because they are moral, then it is not God that makes those things good. Morality is then independent of God. If they are moral standards because God gave them, then God doesn’t approve of those acts for any reason. Morality is then arbitrary and empty. (See slide for question 5.)

6. 4. Why does “the gods love the pious because it is pious” show that Euthyphro hasn’t defined piety? Euthyphro says the gods love pious acts because they’re pious. Socrates points out that if the gods love things because they are good, then it is not the love of the gods that makes those things good. If you love your dad because he is charming, your loving him isn’t what makes him charming. He was charming before. So defining your dad’s charm as “what everybody loves about him” doesn’t explain what it is that everybody loves. Nor does saying “everybody loves his charm because he’s so charming.” So Euthyphro has still not given a definition of piety: it’s what the gods love doesn’t explain what the good is that the gods love.

7. 5. What’s wrong with saying the pious is pious because God loves it? If moral standards are moral because God made them moral, then God’s love makes acts good and God’s disapproval makes acts bad. But then acts aren’t good or bad without God’s will. If it weren’t for God, nothing would be right or wrong. As soon as God approves, it becomes good. Nothing about murder makes it wrong. So then there is no reason why murder is wrong, only God’s will. But then morality is arbitrary (it could be anything) and empty (it has no reasons).

8. The Euthyphro Dilemma as a valid argument 1. What is good is either good because God made it good or it’s good for some other reasons. 2. If what is good is good because God made it good, then morality is arbitrary and empty. 3. If what is good is good for some other reasons, then God is irrelevant to morality. So: Either morality is empty and arbitrary, or God is irrelevant to morality.