Turning the Euthyphro Dilemma around on atheists

[Darkstar]

Not in the real world the rest of us are living in, buddy.

For instance, if it were the consensus that rape were good, we know what you would do.

Uh...how is that possible? Rape is non-consensual sex. That would have to mean that women wanted to (i.e. consented to) being raped...which is paradoxical.[/quote]

This leads me to ask then: If you lived in Nazi Germany, where it was the consensus to annihilate the Jews.

Assuming you exclude the Jews from weighing in on that consensus.

Or perhaps you lived in some society where it was the consensus that torturing people was morally good, would it be morally good to you?

Well, if it were the consensus that torturing was morally good, I can only assume that everyone was masochistic to come to that consensus. And if everyone was masochistic, they would thoroughly enjoy it, so yes, it would be good (assuming no serious injury was caused).

If they weren't masochistic, then I cannot see how this consensus would come about. It's like the golden rule: how would you feel if someone tortured you? Would you really vote that torture is okay if you hated being tortured, knowing that some well-being person might kick you in the groin one day as a random act of kindness? And if you were the masochist, and everyone else wasn't, then you would be outvoted.

Or, what if most were masochists but not all? Then: would I want to be tortured [if I weren't masochistic]? No. So the morality of torture differs to the non-masochists.

This is just a basic example for now.