Euthyphro Is An Example Of Socratic Irony

Euthyphro Euthyphro, written by Plato, offers a prime example of Socratic irony. In this story, Euthyphro is in court persecuting his own father for killing another man. Socrates questions the motive behind Euthyphro persecuting his own father against his family’s wishes. Euthyphro agrees to be Socrates’ teacher and explains his reasoning for persecuting his father. Euthyphro’s father being accused of murder was controversial because his father had not directly killed anyone. He found that one of his workers was murdered by another. Euthyphro’s father tied him up to give him time to decide what course of action to take. However, by the time they had come back, the worker had died. Socrates was in court for his charges. Meletos had accused Socrates of

Euthyphro offers three different definitions for holiness. The first definition is that piety is what the gods love. Socrates argues that if there is more than one god, then different gods would find different things pious. Furthermore, Socrates asks if something is pious because they are loved, or are they loved because they are pious? Plato 5 - "The 'Path'" Euthyphro fails to give a reason for why certain things may be loved or not by any of the gods. The second definition of pious, presented by Euthyphro, is that which is pleasing to the gods (Plato 12). This is very similar to the first definition Euthyphro answered with. Socrates notices that this definition still does not make any assertion about what is actually pious, instead shifting the focus from what is loved to what is pleasing. Euthyprho thus far has not provided any definition, instead offering examples of what he views as pious and impious. Socrates is still asking extensive questions because he wants Euthyphro to provide a more fundamental understanding of what piety is. The final definition provided to Socrates is that piety is what is dear to the gods (Plato