In this video we'll be talking about the Euthyphro Dilemma And the Divine Command Theory as well as how they relate to each other. Euthyphro was a religious teacher in Greece Around the time of Plato and Socrates And is known for his failure to answer a problem Socrates put to him in Plato's dialogue Euthyphro The problem came to be known as the Euthyphro dilemma And has plagued many moral And religious philosophers ever since But first to put some flesh on the bones And context in the situation surrounding Socrates question Socrates was notorious in Athens Around the time of 460BC For his no holds barred train of questioning Following the evidence where it led Such that despite being far from wealthy Many of his debates were with High standing members of society But his notoriety eventually led to claims By opponents that he was trying to corrupt the youth And was guilty of impiety or treachery Against the gods And with this accusation on his mind He meets Euthyphro outside of the courthouse Euthyphro as it happens had come to the courts To accuse his father of murdering his servant By leaving him outside overnight in a ditch Socrates is quite surprised Because an accusation against his own father Must have meant that he was very convinced Of his being correct in the matter But Socrates is not too sure Just how can Euthyphro know What is pious and what is not? What is good and what is not good? So he asks the obvious question What is piety, Euthyphro? This is where the dilemma begins Because Euthyphro claims that 'Piety (Or goodness) Is what is loved by the gods But Socrates comes right back with Is it pious because the gods say it is pious Or do the gods say it is pious because it is pious? If we replace pious With the more easily understood 'Good' Then we get Are things good because God says something is good Or does God say something is good because it is good? This has obvious implications on the way We understand the classical divine command theory Divine command theory is the second Of the two options given by Socrates It is good because God says it is good However that would mean that whatever God says is good Automatically becomes good Such as murder or torture But this doesn't make much sense How can murder be good even when a god orders it? So Euthyphro and many theologians since Have had to deal with this problem That the only option Socrates leaves us with Is that goodness is separate from God Or the gods of Greek mythology So then do the gods look to this other goodness To explain what is pious and what isn't Because if so Then we do not need the gods to give us morality And if not; then we still do not have an objective morality Because the gods can change their minds And give a different instruction So what did you think? Did we make any mistakes? Which philosopher or philosophies Would you like to hear about next? We hope to see you next time