Euthyphro
Euthyphro is a story told by an ancient Greek philosopher named Plato. In this story, a man named Socrates is talking to a guy named Euthyphro. Euthyphro thinks he knows everything about what's right and wrong, so Socrates starts to ask him some tricky questions.
Socrates wants to know: does something become good just because the gods say it is good, or do the gods say it is good because it is already good? This is called the "Euthyphro dilemma."
To explain it to a 5-year-old, think about a game where there are rules. Do we follow the rules because we want to, or because someone in charge tells us to? Is something good because we think it is, or because someone important says so?
Ultimately, Socrates and Euthyphro can't agree on the answer to this question. But it makes us think about why we believe something is good or bad, and who gets to decide what's right and wrong.
Socrates wants to know: does something become good just because the gods say it is good, or do the gods say it is good because it is already good? This is called the "Euthyphro dilemma."
To explain it to a 5-year-old, think about a game where there are rules. Do we follow the rules because we want to, or because someone in charge tells us to? Is something good because we think it is, or because someone important says so?
Ultimately, Socrates and Euthyphro can't agree on the answer to this question. But it makes us think about why we believe something is good or bad, and who gets to decide what's right and wrong.
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