See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/236637270

The Euthyphro Dilemma

Article in British Journal of General Practice · May 2013

DOI: 10.3399/bjgp13X667286 · Source: PubMed

CITATIONS READS

2 3,378

1 author:

David Misselbrook
Retired
81 PUBLICATIONS 401 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by David Misselbrook on 18 August 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Out of Hours

An A–Z of medical philosophy

The Euthyphro Buddhist, Hebrew, Christian, and Muslim

scriptures. But it is also the basis for Kant’s
Box 1. Reflective notes
• Humans tend to huddle safely within their
dilemma Categorical Imperative:

own tribes and throw bricks at others. Morality The first recorded moral codes that we ‘Act only in accordance with that maxim
depends upon mutual respect. There is possess, such as the Code of Hammurabi
a morality of intellect also — do we respect through which you can at the same time will
the ‘evidential golden rule’ of evaluating the
(1760 BCE) or the Ten Commandments that it become a universal law.’
evidence of others’ beliefs by the same criteria of the Mosaic Law (1400 BCE) rely on the
by which we test our own beliefs? authority of divine commands. Some still So, good news: the atheist and the faithful
• How much do we promote an ethic of peace debate today whether there can be morality may interpret the deepest realities of the
and respect towards all? without God. In The Brothers Karamazov universe very differently but they can join
Dostoyevsky famously states that ‘if God together in campaigning for a better world
does not exist, everything is permitted’. because they can recognise that we all
However Socrates demonstrated share the same world. Socrates showed
that authority, divine or worldly, is never the way.
enough by itself. In a dialogue recorded I have two conclusions. First ethics,
(or imagined) by Plato, Socrates asks indeed all morality, depends on reciprocity
Euthyphro ‘is an action right because it is and mutual respect. We all, the faithful and
commanded by the gods, or do the gods the secular, would do well to remember
command it because it is right?’ So, for this. Second, Jesus had a snappier turn of
example, would gratuitous cruelty be wrong phrase than Kant.
only because God forbids it, or does God
forbid it because it is wrong? Can right or CPD further study and reflective notes
wrong be known by divine revelation only, or The notes in Boxes 1 and 2 will help you to
may we be able to know them by examining read and reflect further on any of the brief
the human world? Unless you take a very articles in this series. If this learning relates
hard line for the first option then we cannot to your professional development then you
only appeal to religious traditions to define should put it in your annual PDP and claim
right and wrong. If we believe that there is self-certified CPD points within the RCGP
some reason why a particular act is right guidelines set out at http://bit.ly/UT5Z3V.
or wrong then we must look for the general If your reading and reflection is occasional
meaning of right and wrong by means of and opportunistic, claims in this one area
such reasons. should not exceed 10 CPD credits per year.
We live in a world of theists, atheists, and However if you decide to use this material
plenty in between. A marketplace of many to develop your understanding of medical
religious and secular worldviews. At first philosophy and ethics as a significant
glance the Euthyphro dilemma may seem a part of a PDP, say over 2 years, then a
challenge to the value of religious traditions. larger number of credits can be claimed
In fact it is a question that unites the religious so long as there is evidence of balance
and the secular in the need to seek right and over a 5-year cycle. These credits should
wrong within the human world, whether or demonstrate the impact of your reflection
not we also choose to seek them in God. on your practice (for example, by way of
Instead of the religious disparaging Godless case studies or other evidence), and must
morality and the secular disparaging the be validated by your appraiser.
notion of faith traditions we should recognise
that any proper morality exists equally for David Misselbrook,
all. Just as the universe (according to Hick) GP, Dean Emeritus of the Royal Society of Medicine,
is ambiguous and can be interpreted validly Course Director of the Diploma of the Philosophy of
Medicine of the Society of Apothecaries, and BJGP
as either a God breathed or a solely material Senior Ethics Advisor.
Box 2. Further reading place, so the fundamentals of morality can
be conceptualised within either sort of
Primary source DOI: 10.3399/bjgp13X667286
Plato. The last days of Socrates: Euthyphro. worldview. There is no need for the faithful
Tr. Tredennick H. London: Penguin, 1954. and the secular to build brick walls between
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE
Further study themselves when discussing ethics.
David Misselbrook
Hick J. An interpretation of religion: human John Hick points out that ‘the golden
responses to the transcendent. Basingstoke: Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine,
rule’ of Jesus ‘Do to others as you would Society of Apothecaries, Black Friars Lane, London,
Macmillan,1989: chapter 15, section 5..
have them do to you’ actually occurs in the EC4V 6EJ, UK.
Hindu, Confucian, Taoist, Zoroastrian, Jain, E-mail: David.Misselbrook@rsm.ac.uk

British Journal of General practice, May 2013 263

View publication stats