This "Euthyphro dilemma" is supposedly the death knell for any ethical system that grounds moral imperatives in the command of God (i. e. a divine command theory of ethics). Even today, in many contemporary discussions of the subject, on atheistic blogs or whatever, non-theists act as if the issue is settled. Ethics just can't be rooted in the command of God, they say, because Socrates has already dealt with that issue definitively. (They do this quite often, by the way. We can't have any real knowledge of God anyway, for example, because Kant has already settled that! The teleological argument for God's existence doesn't work either! We know that because Hume showed it was impossible! This kind of thing wouldn't be so annoying if the arguments they were referring to were better.)

But I call poppycock on that. If we're looking solely at Socrates' argument, it doesn't even apply to theistic beliefs, and that's because the Greek gods are not analogous to the omnipotent, omniscient, perfect God of theism. The Greek gods - Zeus, Ares, Athena and the like - are more like glorified superheroes than God. That is, they may be very strong or beautiful or smart and have magnificent powers, but they are still finite. They are part of the created order, not the ontological ground of that order. Thus of course it's impossible for objective morals to be rooted in their command, and Socrates points out that the gods often disagree or change their mind anyway.

Now, for the sake of argument, let's suppose that Socrates was not talking to Euthyphro. We'll say he was transported seven hundred years into the future and was talking to Saint Augustine (who would have given a much better answer, by the way, than poor Euthyphro). There he poses the same question to Augustine: are moral actions good because God has commanded them? Or has God commanded them because they are good? Most sophisticated formulations of the Euthyphro dilemma simply twist the question and pose it to theists in this way. What is the proper Christian response?

11. Jeff Clinton on the impact of technology:

Technology is a branch of moral philosophy. No question about it. There is an ought embedded in technology … not just because technology can be misused … but because technology changes us. Where there is an ought, we are dealing with moral philosophy.

12. World's First Air-Powered Car:

India’s largest automaker is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets in August of 2008.

13. Who Pays for Conservation Programs?

The…media spin is so deceitful that even in these environmentally conscious times most Americans don’t know that by paying special surtaxes on guns, ammunition and other gear, hunters sent $294,691,282 to state conservation programs in 2005 - or that hikers, mountain bikers and environmentalists don’t pay those conservation taxes. Most people aren’t even aware that hunters’ money buys critical wetland habitat and funds wildlife research in every state. Most people don’t know that hunting reduces the risk of predators preying on us.

14. Empire's list of 50 Greatest Independent Films (I've seen 34 of the 50, though I'm not sure I'd consider them "great.")

15. Mark Shea on libertarianism and traditionalism:

The libertarian tends to remember that government is a menace due to the fall. He does not tend to remember that he is a menace due to the fall. He wants freedom from government so that he can do whatever the hell he wants. And frequently, he wants hell. The Traditionalist (and by this, I have in view the Christian tradition since it is, like, the basis of Western civilization) wants freedom in order to attempt, with God's help, virtue.

(HT: Crunchy Con)

16. ScienceHack is a unique video search engine for science videos. Every video is screened and approved based on accuracy and quality by scientists. (HT: The Presurfer)

17. Timewaster of the Week: 3D Tetris

18. Matt Anderson on Blink and the subconscious Christian life:

As Christians, we of course want to see the world as it is, which means seeing individuals as made in God’s image and being aware of the demonic among us. Our “first impression” of individuals must go deeper than race or personality–rather, we must become attuned to their spiritual status.

If Gladwell is right, then changing these first impressions demands placing ourselves in contexts that reinforce seeing people this way. Our sanctification is not a matter of our decisions or our will alone, but a matter of repeatedly and constantly placing ourselves in environments that will reinforce the work of the Spirit in the secret parts of our heart. Whether by listening to music, consuming appropriate entertainment or surrounding ourselves with friendships that edify, we must situate ourselves so that our environment reinforces our Christian beliefs.

19. Does Mathematical Beauty Pose Problems for Naturalism? (HT: Dangerous Idea)

20. Robert Saucy on the difference between Roman Catholics and evangelical protestants:

They’re the same as they were at the Reformation. There are three significant ones. First is the question of final authority. Protestants hold to sola scriptura [Scripture as their final authority]. For Catholics, the final authority is Scripture as interpreted by the church, that is, the magisterium (the pope and bishops). That’s where Catholicism gets its teachings that can’t be found in Scripture, like veneration of Mary, indulgences and purgatory. Second, Catholics view the church as an extension of Christ’s incarnation. For them, the church is divine as Christ was divine. One result of this is the Catholic proclamation: “Come to the church for salvation, for faith in the church and faith in Christ are one act of faith.” That leads to the third difference: salvation. The Catholic catechism makes it very clear that you are born again and justified through baptism. That means faith plus a certain rite — which is administered by the church — is necessary for salvation. So, the church essentially grants salvation. Although this salvation is “by faith,” additional grace enables us “to work” to attain eternal life. And that’s the problem with saying we speak the same gospel. One of them is clear: Christ did it; we can’t add anything to that. The other one is: Christ did it, but to actually avail yourself of what Christ did you have to do this and this.

21. How to Attain Serenity Before Giving a Speech (HT: Lifehacker)

22. Anthony Esolen on "signs" of God's existence:

So when the critics demand a sign, do they then ask what the sign would prove? I ask for a piece of supposedly incontrovertible evidence. I pray, "Show me a banner in the sky, visible to all the world, that reads 'I exist'. Place it somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn. Encode it in binary flashes of light." Then suppose it happens. What does that prove? I'm not asking what it suggests. What does it prove? That a power beyond my own has heard me -- that is all it proves. It proves the existence of a Mister Apollo. Is the power good? Is it evil? Is it a mischievous mix? How would the human race react to it? Would they flock to their churches? Would they raise their fists in impatience, demanding more and more? Would they apostasize, feeling cramped by the nearness of the power? In what way, practically speaking, would it be good for the human race to see such a sign? Or, why would the God of infinite goodness provide His people, once they have passed an early stage of barbarism, with pyrotechnical and tricksy proofs not of His own existence, but of the existence of Mr. Apollo, especially when Mr. Apollo really is a figment of the imagination?

23. Niall Ferguson examines the question, How much did the Marshall Plan really matter?

In all likelihood, then, Western Europe could have pulled through without the Marshall Plan. But it certainly could not have pulled through without the United States… The Marshall Plan was not the only difference between the two postwar eras, but, to West Europeans struggling to make ends meet, it was the most visible manifestation of American good will—and a mirror image of the Soviet policy of mulcting Eastern Europe. This, more than its macroeconomic impact, explains its endurance in the popular imagination. At a time when, according to the Pew Research Center, only thirty-nine per cent of Frenchmen and thirty per cent of Germans have a positive view of the United States, that is something worth remembering, and pondering.

24. How to Write a Philosophy Essay

25. LOLCat of the Week

moar funny pictures

26. Woman, 53, with black belt in martial arts, tackles burglary suspect:

As related by Foster, the intruder began to climb the 6-foot-high wooden fence in the yard, when she "grabbed him by the neck, ripped him off the fence.. threw him to the ground, and put my knee to his chest." The two struggled for a few minutes, Foster in her white tennis skirt, before the burglar dropped the bag and started running again.

"Go ahead and run," the former yacht detailer said she yelled. "You're not going to get away from me. I've been running for 40 years."

Police said the burglar headed north on Lighthouse Drive into the city of Deerfield Beach and then turned right on Southeast 14th Street, before he got tired and started walking. Foster followed behind and flagged down a motorist, who called police.

"I outran the kid," said Foster. "He had no cardiovascular system."

(HT: Brutally Honest)

27. 10 Most Bizarre Scientific Papers

28. The mere sight of alcohol impairs drinkers' memories -- For students who like a tipple or three, the mere sight of a bottle of Jack Daniels can have a detrimental effect on their memory. Dennis Kramer and Stephen Schmidt, who made the observation, said this is probably due to the emotional salience alcohol has for those who drink a lot.

29. The 20 Best iPod Utilities

30. Scientists discover the bones of a one-ton rodent in South America:

Eeek! Imagine a rodent that weighed a ton and was as big as a bull. Uruguayan scientists say they have uncovered fossil evidence of the biggest species of rodent ever found, one that scurried across wooded areas of South America about 4 million years ago, when the continent was not connected to North America.

(HT: Trousered Ape)

31. 15 Powerful Ways to Differentiate Your Blog from the Crowd (HT: SmartChristian)

32. Keeping Young South Africans In School: A 'Social Vaccine' Against AIDS -- A new study suggests that secondary school attendance is linked to lower risk of HIV infection among young people in rural South Africa.

33. Martin Luther King "I have a dream" speech