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Euthyphro's Definition Of Piety

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According to the lecture, piety is a term that refers to what it means to be good or holy in the eyes of the gods. In the reading, Euthyphro gives several different definitions of the term piety. The definition that stood out to me the most was the one in which Euthyrphro says, “…what is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious” (Euthyphro, 8). This seems like a simple definition. However, Socrates objects this definition on the grounds that the gods disagree among themselves as to what is 'pleasing'. Socrates said that Euthyphro had previously stated that “gods are in a state of discord…and that they are at enmity with each other” (Socrates, 8). Socrates also says: “Then according to your argument, my good Euthyphro, different gods consider different things to be just, beautiful, ugly, good, and bad, for they would not be at odds with one another unless they differed about these subjects would they?...They like what each of them considers beautiful, good, and just, and hate that opposite of these?” (Socrates, 9). Euthyphro agrees, proving that certain things disputed by the gods would be both pious and impious due to the fact that different gods consider different things to be holy. I believe Euthyphro’s self-contradiction shows that he does not know as much about piety as he claims. …show more content…

According to the lecture, Socrates always asks just the right questions to make Euthyphro see that he does not really know all that he claims he knows. In other words Socrates proves that Euthyphro “…doesn’t have the knowledge of which he speaks” (Youngs’ Plato Lecture, 10:00). I feel as though that is exactly what Socrates did in this

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Socrates and Euthyphro meet at the Agora, and begin discussing what brings them to the king-archons court. Euthyphro begins telling Socrates, that he is bringing a case against his father who murdered a servant. Socrates is astounded that Euthyphro is bringing an indictment against his father, and asks for wisdom concerning a statement of piety so that he may fight his own accusations impiety. Euthyphro first proposes that “What is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious.”

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Euthyphro tries to explain him that he was doing the same as Zeus did to his father and therefore being pious. But Socrates argues that it is just an example and not an explanation. He tries again and says what gods like is pious and what they dislike is not. But Socrates points out the fallacy in that argument that one god might not agree with another to which he replies in his third attempt what all gods like is pious and what they all hate is impious. Here, in this example we can see that how he searches for a concrete and complete definition for being pious.

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Socrates dissatisfied with this definition begins to push Euthyphro to think on his argument of pious and impious rather than an example. Taken back from what Socrates has just told him that he attempts to define pious but instead proposes the possibilities of pious, not a definition. Socrates explained to Euthyphro that the correct definition would help him argue against Meletus’ charges of impiety. He attempts to answer Socrates’ question once more by stating that pious is a form of

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The second, Socrates asks Euthyphro, have you known what a piety is if your attitude is confident that you indict your father for a crime. (Plato (1997), p.77.). Socrates tries to look for one standard definition of piety. Let, have a look at what piety means to Euthyphro. He comes up with the several suggestions about piety: “to prosecute a wrongdoer is pious and not to prosecute is impious”; “what all the gods hate is impious, and what they all love is pious”; “where there is piety there is also justice” (Plato (1997), p.88.).

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