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Euthyphro dilemma

Euthyphro dilemma noun: a dilemma as to whether things that are morally good are commanded by God because they are morally good, or whether they are morally good because they are God's commands.

Noun

Euthyphro dilemma (plural Euthyphro dilemmas)

  1. A dilemma as to whether things that are morally good are commanded by God because they are morally good, or whether they are morally good because they are God's commands.

Forms of Euthyphro dilemma

pluralEuthyphro dilemmas

Origin of Euthyphro dilemma

Found in Plato's dialogue Euthyphro, in which Socrates asks Euthyphro, "Is the pious (τὸ ὅσιον) loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?"

Questions about Euthyphro dilemma

What does Euthyphro dilemma mean?
Euthyphro dilemma means a dilemma as to whether things that are morally good are commanded by God because they are morally good, or whether they are morally good because they are God's commands.
What part of speech is Euthyphro dilemma?
Euthyphro dilemma is a noun.
What is the plural of Euthyphro dilemma?
The plural of Euthyphro dilemma is Euthyphro dilemmas.

Words near Euthyphro dilemma in the dictionary

  1. euthyneurous
  2. euthyneury
  3. euthynteria
  4. euthynteriae
  5. Euthyphro
  6. Euthyphro dilemma
  7. Euthyphro dilemmas
  8. euthyreosis
  9. euthyreotic
  10. euthyroid
  11. euthyroid sick syndrome

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Euthyphro dilemma (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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