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Socrates And Euthyphro Dilemmas

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This is a dialog between Socrates and Euthyphro. Euthyphro is at court ready to charge his father with murdering his own slave. Socrates questions the intensions behind Euthyphro’s actions. It seems impious to go against his father, but it also seems pious to go against evil and wicked actions. At first Euthyphro thinks he knows what piety is and what it means to be holy: he thinks that piety is what the gods like, and impiety is what the gods don’t like. This reasoning causes a dilemma: is something pious because the gods like it, or do the gods like something because it is pious? Unfortunately, what is pious to one god may not be pious to other gods so it is unclear what actions are pious and what actions are not. This also displays a dilemma
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Initially, Socrates asks Euthyphro what piety is as he has claims to being an expert in this field of study. Where Euthyphro failed in the eyes of Socrates, is by giving examples of what is pious. The evidence only supports stories that appeal to the gods and does not answer the essence

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He does as such for a few reasons. In any case, he doesn't trust that one's obligation toward a perfect being ought to be viewed as something that is partitioned and particular from his obligation toward his kindred men. In actuality, he holds that the main genuine method for rendering administration to God comprises in doing what one can to advance the good and otherworldly improvement of people. Second, Socrates respects the reason and capacity of religion as something that is unique in relation to the view communicated by Euthyphro. Rather than religion being utilized as a sort of hardware or gadget for getting what one needs, as was valid for Euthyphro's situation, Socrates trusts the basic role of genuine religion is to carry one's own life into amicability with the will of God.

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835 Words | 4 Pages

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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226 Words | 1 Pages

Socrates 's second argument “The Analogy between the State and One 's Parents”, in my opinion, is flawed and could be improved. The first chapter of our textbook reads: “Our parents made our lives possible—they brought us into being, raised us, and educated us. We are therefore obligated to respect and obey them. The state also makes our lives possible, by providing a social environment that nurtures and sustains us. So we have a similar obligation to respect and obey the state.”

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643 Words | 3 Pages

In Plato’s, The Republic, Book I, Socrates tries to prove to Thrasymachus “whether just people also live better and are happier than unjust ones” (352d). He argues that everything has a predisposed proficiency at a function, and that this functions are performed well by the peculiar virtue and badly by means of its vice (353a-353d) . The point of this paper is to present Socrates argument and evaluate it to the best of my ability. This argument can be categorized as an inductive generalization. Socrates states that the function of anything is what it alone can do or what it does best.

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484 Words | 2 Pages

HUM2225 Dr. Hotchkiss September 30, 2016 Moral Insight Plato’s Euthyphro is based on a lesson between Socrates and Euthyphro outside of the Athenian court about the definition of pious or impious. Euthyphro was surprised to see Socrates there and even more curious to find out why he was there. Socrates explained that the court was persecuting him for impiety because Meletus was spreading rumors about him corrupting the Athenian youth. Euthyphro explains to Socrates that he was there to prosecute his father for murdering a farm worker named Dionysus.

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1811 Words | 8 Pages

In Meno, we find that Socrates was charged with impiety and on his way to the courthouse, he finds Euthyphro. Euthyphro is charging his own father with Impiety, which is odd, because people don’t normally make charges against their own family over small issues; It violates social norms. To Socrates, this must mean that Euthyphro must have a definitive understanding of what Impiety means, if he’s bringing a charge against his own father. Which leads to the beginning of Socrates search for the universal definition of Piety, to help drop the charges that are being held against him. If he can find the universal definition of piety, he would be able to defend himself in on trial.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

Socrates argument is: Everyone knows bad things, in so far as they are bad, are harmful. So, to want something you believe to be bad as such, involves wanting to be harmed. But no one wants to be harmed. Therefore, no one wants bad things, in-so-far as they are bad, as such. To effectively refute this argument, one could simply provide a counter example to one or more of Socrates’ premises.

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Euthyphro’s first attempt to is to try and explain that charging individuals that have committed religious crimes or offenses can be an example of holiness. However, Socrates doesn’t find this to be a compelling answer and goes on to list other actions that can be considered holy. Euthyphro then tries to explain that

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893 Words | 4 Pages

The discourse between Socrates and Euthyphro clearly depicts a dilemma when it comes to the question on holiness, moral goodness and the will of God. While Euthyphro is of the opinion that what is dear to the gods is holy, and what is not dear to them is unholy, (Indiana University 6) Socrates seems to be of a different opinion. This discourse occurs at a time when there is a belief in many gods in Greece, each god having different duties. The gods are also known to disagree on a number of issues. Socrates, in trying to counter Euthyphro’s idea he opines that since the gods disagree, they must have different concepts of what is ethical and what is not.

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912 Words | 4 Pages

Socrates started his life as an average Athen citizen. His parents worked, making an honest living. But as Socrates grew up, he began to realize that his mind questioned things and wondered how come no one else questioned the same things or at least think about the answers to the questions that were not answered. So, as his mind kept wandering, he began to acknowledge the questions that were not answered and sought for those answers. He ended up believing and teaching things to other people, whether it went against the way the Athen government or not, he still continued his work.

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1595 Words | 7 Pages

In the first dialogue, Euthyphro, Socrates questions what is the true meaning of piety, to

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715 Words | 3 Pages

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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891 Words | 4 Pages

When engaged in conversation with Thrasymachus Socrates uses the “Socratic Method” in a different way then he did with Polemarchus and Glaucon, but this does not take away from the Socratic method. Thrasymachus argues that Justice is not universally beneficial. This is in part due to his role as an immoralist whose belief is that it is better to look out for your own interest then to follow the rules of right or wrong. Justice, he says, is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger (15). This definition is not imposed as an explanation; rather it is a delegitimization of justice.

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232 Words | 1 Pages

Socrates is a key person of Athens and when he was charged guilty with the possibility of being executed, he wasn’t worried. Rather, he stayed true to himself and stuck to what he believed in. Socrates tries to protect the citizens of Athens by not angering the gods, “that you may not sin against the God by condemning me,” (104). Being a “gift to you [citizens of Athens]” Socrates wants people to think about what will happen to the city once he is gone, whether it will be better or worse (105). However with the way he states he is needed by the city, he tries to convince people that they will sin by going against him.

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