Holier than thou? : piety and paradox in Plato's Euthyphro and the binding of Isaac
Abstract
This work discusses two classical paradoxes which have been
offered concerning the nature of piety: the Akedah and Euthyphro’s
Dilemma. These paradoxes revolve around the idea that
if divine reality determines piety, then piety must lie outside of the sphere
divine influence. Accordingly, piety must be dependent upon the
commandments of the divine or the divine must subjugate itself to the
nature of piety. Many opponents of theism have offered these paradoxes
as evidence against the existence of the divine from a moral perspective.
In this thesis, I insist that such a theological position need not be held.
From the perspective of process theology, the divine can be described as
participating in every facet of the universe’s existence. Piety can be
described as emulating the divine by actively seeking to improve the world
and its inhabitants without falling prey to the paradoxes of Euthyphro’s
Dilemma or Divine Command Moral Theory.