Here's a question for all you theists and religious folk out there: Is what is moral (or "good") commanded by god because it is moral, or is it moral because it is commanded by god?
This question is referred to as Euthyphro's Dilemma, and is named after Plato's dialogue Euthyphro, in which the inspiration for this question is presented.
If you pick the former (what is moral is commanded by god because it is moral), then you are admitting that god is not omnipotent, but is bound by an external force or factor ("good"), and is simply reduced to not much more than a passer-on of moral knowledge.
If you pick the latter (that which is moral is moral because it is commanded by god), then you are admitting to moral relativism, meaning that morals can change, they are simply based on god's whim, and there is no absolute "good" or "evil". If god wanted to, he could make things that are generally thought of as bad (i.e. murder, rape, etc.) "good". This, of course, goes against many Christian teachings.
So there it is. Stumped now, aren't ya? It's okay, you don't really have to answer the question, for we all know the real answer now....(or do we?)
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7 comments:
if the former means that God is omnipotent and therefore has the knowledge of what is good and evil, and can pass it on to those who do not have that knowledge because they are not omnipotent?
(not a big believer in anything here, just playing devil's advocate - okay, yes, pun intended)
-bobbie
i meant to say "what if" at the beginning there
If god is bound by any external factor (in this case, morality, or "good"), then he can't possibly be omnipotent. Saying that god commands/wills us to do good because it is good tells us that god is indeed bound by morality or good.
I don't buy it, it's oversimplification for the purpose of a catchy rhetorical question. I know the difference between good and bad, and I'm not God. I'm not religious. God doesn't tell me what's good and bad, I just feel that I know it. That doesn't make me bound by it. Anyway, what is omnipotence if not "all-knowing," and how can you know all if you don't know what is good and what is bad? God's knowledge of other things does not make him "bound" by them, why should his knowledge of good and evil? Also I think there is a difference between saying that there is no "absolute" good and evil, and then saying that if God wanted to he could change morals. Of course there is no absolute good or evil, because there is free will and human nature and compromises and sacrifices, because humans are not God. And this whole thing is also taking the phrase "the word of God" too literally and the "commandments" too literally. God admits that humans have free will and can choose to be good or bad. He doesn't make us do anything. If God could make things good or bad because he wanted to, he could certainly take away free will. He's not magical.
You bring up some good points that can be debated endlessly and that go against what many Christians say and preach. You and I are both free-thinkers, we don’t just blindly go with what people tell us (and kudos to you for that). The Euthyphro Dilemma is really meant to cater more to our preachy Christian friends that say things like “God is good and God commands us to do good” and “Do what God says or you’ll go to hell,” and so on, you get the idea. We all know that we have free will and can do whatever we feel like, and even Christians say this, but coming from Christians, it’s a little different. It’s really more of a happy, feel-good thing they say so that they don’t sound too controlling or judgmental (which, you gotta admit, they are), but when they talk about free will, there’s an added (sometimes unspoken) part at the end that goes along these lines: “Yes, you can do whatever you like, but if you go against God’s way, you’re a sinner, and sinners burn in hell for eternity.” Christians (especially divine command theorists) teach that morals come from God, and my original post argues otherwise.
Not to stalk your blog or anything... but funny you should mention it, I'm doing my thesis on the source of morality. It turns out that morality is nothing but consciousness meets religion meets pattern recognition. The only reason God is in it is because of our archetypes, and that thing called Christianity that took over the world about 2000 years ago, lol
Haha, don't worry, not only am I glad that people read my blog, I'm glad that people like to comment the posts and spark good discussion and debate! I wouldn't really say that Christianity took over most of the world until around 1500 years ago (rough figure), but don't worry, some of us are fighting back!!! I do it by posting things like this in my blog and word of mouth mostly.
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