Importance Of Morality In The Euthyphro Dilemma

In the Euthyphro dilemma, Socrates poses the question, does God approve of things because they are moral or are things moral because God approves of them? The former suggests that God merely reinforces what is already intrinsically moral and that his commands are inessential to determining the nature of morality. This option does not explain the roots of morality and also presents limitations on God’s sovereignty, but the latter option also presents substantial problems as well. God, in the latter option, is inevitably the decider of what qualifies as moral in society. God’s commands, therefore, created morality and there is no moral code outside of his approval. Furthermore, if God alone decides what is moral in society, then these decisions …show more content…
Kant claims that good will is the only unqualifiedly good in any conceivable universe and that good intentions ultimately decide a decision’s morality. This deontological philosophy emphasizes the importance of intention over the outcome of a decision, but Kant also stresses the importance of duty when decision making. For example, although most would consider someone who continuously spreads joy due to their own personal enjoyment moral, Kant believes that we should do good regardless of this personal enjoyment. I disagree with punishing this “joy-spreader enjoyer” just based off our humanity’s predilection for acting altruistically, but ultimately I agree with Kant that morality should be based off intention. As Kant’s first formulation of categorical imperative, only what is universally acceptance, where we would want everyone to do the action, is considered moral. Morality is therefore less arbitrary than in the case of Euthyphro, as now morality is placed in the hands of the majority as opposed to a divine being. Ultimately, I think morality should be based on the decisions of rational beings as we are the ones creating the laws and deciding the punishments for those acting