MENO AND EUTHYPHRO'S DILEMMA - Coursework Example

s Unit Meno and Euthyphros Dilemma The Euthyphro dilemma arises in Plato’s dialogues d Euthyphro. Socrates asksEuthyphro the famous question about the nature of goodness. He asks whether a thing is good because God declares it good, or does God accept a thing is good because it is indeed. The question raises a dilemma for Christians because if God simply says a thing is good for it to be so, then anything God declares good ought to be, even if it is murder or rape (Harriet 99). On the other hand, if God is reduced to the level of merely accepting a thing is good because it is indeed, then it would mean God is no longer the standard for goodness.

This explains the principal source of the dilemma. The dilemma can be related to how virtue and ethics are defined in Meno’s dialogue. The dialogue lacks a satisfactory definition of virtue and ethics. Meno provides a list of varieties of virtue. Socrates points out a weakness in this, that many people are mistaken about what is good and evil. He asks if it is possible to acquire good things virtuously for them to be truly good (Harriet 133). His questions reveal that he considers a successful definition as one that is unitary.

The dilemma arising from the words, “I love her since she is beautiful, or is it that she is beautiful because of my love for her,” is that beauty is subjective in the first case. I may love her because I think she is beautiful, in the contrary another person may think she is ugly. In the second case, it would mean I lack the knowledge of knowing what is beautiful. In life, we still face Euthyphro’s dilemmas. For instance, what we consider good may not be so for others. In this case, goodness is subjective to our own liking.

For instance, do I love my mother because she carried me in her womb for 9 months, or because she carried me in her womb for 9 months, I love my mother? In the first case, it means all persons love their mothers for this reason, which is not true. The second argument is also impractical because there are individuals who were carried for 9 months and they still hate their mothers. Works CitedHarriet, Harris. God, goodness and philosophy: morality and philosophy of religion. Furnham: Ashgate. 2011. Print.