A famous example from the Euthyphro is the title character’s proposal that what is pious is simply that which all the gods love (9e). The difficulty with this idea is that it may get the direction of explanation wrong: are things really pious because the gods love them, or is it rather the reverse, and the gods love things because they are pious? The problem uncovered here by Plato is destined to become a mainstay of debates in the philosophy of religion. Do the gods, or God, dictate morality and goodness, in which
