belief & religion
talking with god
a single question plato asked in 399 bc that has unsettled divine morality ever since.
In Plato’s dialogue the <em>Euthyphro</em>, Socrates meets a young man on his way to court, supremely confident he knows what holiness is, because the gods love it. Socrates asks one question that destroys the confidence, and the same question still presses on anyone who grounds morality in God. Suppose, then, that God exists and is the source of morality. Here is the question.
is an act good because god commands it, or does god command it because it is good?
Take any act you regard as truly good, say, showing mercy to the helpless. There are only two ways God can relate to its goodness.
further reading
- euthyphro dilemma wikipedia
- theological voluntarism stanford encyclopedia of philosophy