Euthyphro revisited, no dilemma with intrinsic qualities.

The roundness of a circle cannot be determined by external factors; it’s intrinsic to its nature. If someone tried to do so, we’d be a wee bit confused and would immediately recognise that the intrinsic had been omitted, with the extrinsic being conflated with what belongs to the object itself.

You wouldn’t call it circular reasoning to point to a circle’s intrinsic circularity. That’s not a fallacious loop; it’s simply a statement of an essential property.

As we see with our wee circle, appealing to the extrinsic for intrinsic qualities misses the point, especially when discussing God and goodness.

Yet, it’s common for people, when talking about the Christian God, to claim it’s circular to refer to God’s goodness as intrinsic to His unchanging nature. But His commands express that nature; they aren’t arbitrary, for God is the very essence of will and goodness itself.

This resolves the Euthyphro dilemma, though many reject this answer because our fellow interlocutor tends to conflate the extrinsic with the intrinsic. The dilemma asks whether goodness comes from God’s commands or exists independently, but it overlooks the intrinsic option, often omitting it altogether, which is very odd given that it’s all about the intrinsic option. So, when we keep the intrinsic in view, we see that the dilemma arises only when we limit ourselves to extrinsic standards.

Yet, if appealing to a circle’s intrinsic nature isn’t circular reasoning, why should it be when we appeal to God’s?

It’s hard to object to someone referring to a circle’s intrinsic circularity. I can’t say, “No, you can’t define it by its circularity,” because that’s exactly what makes it a circle, its circularity. To deny that would be to misunderstand what a circle is by nature. Its definition doesn’t depend on external measurements or comparisons but on the essential quality that makes it what it is.

And, likewise, the same goes for God. He doesn’t merely have goodness or possess will; He is goodness itself, and His will is identical with His nature.