Time Immortal

I’ve never really felt all that threatened by the Euthyphro “dilemma,” despite the fact that some atheists I have debated seem to cling to it as either a comfort blanket or supposed “clincher” argument. The “dilemma” is an interesting thought experiment, I suppose, but being that it was initially asked from within a polytheistic framework — and in large measure depends on certain internal contradictions in the Greek Pantheon in order to actually set up the aspect of it which presents a “dilemma” to believers — it is far less applicable to the Christian situation than adherents of atheism might hope for.

As is roughly the same case with the “problem” of suffering/evil (theodicy), I basically regard Euthyphro as a non-issue, and tend to view dimly anyone who injects it into an argument.

And I see that Vox Day has also had a (much more comprehensive) go at deconstructing the (non-)dilemma, in two parts (one and two). What’s really amusing is that, in similar fashion to how he dismantles the reasoning of the likes of Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris, Vox dismantles the “dilemma” not only from without (by pointing out its inherent non-applicability to Christianity), but from within. It is a most amusing thing to see Socrates skewered on his own logic.