Socrates’ position towards the authorities was inconsistent in The Euthyphro and The Crito. He questioned the authority in The Euthyphro but defended and obeyed it in The Crito. In The Euthyphro, Socrates had a dialog with Euthyphro who claimed to be an expert on the subjects such as holiness, Gods, piety, justice, etc. Socrates began his philosophical debate by asking Euthyphro to define piety and impiety.
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.
One of Socrates’ friends, Chaerephon, asked if there was anyone wiser than Socrates, to which the oracle replied, “no one” (21a, 85). Socrates, knowing he was not very wise, sought to investigate the claim (21b, 85). Already, the reader can begin to understand how an examined life, is a good life. Socrates is unwilling to accept something as truth, just because it is said by a person in a position of power and respect. He chooses to investigate the claim, to find an understanding of how it can be that someone believes he is the wisest person.
In this paper I will discuss and evaluate the definitions of piety in Plato’s Euthyphro. Plato wrote this dialogue shortly after Socrates death. The Euthyphro is one of Plato’s early philosophy dialogs in which it talks about Socrates and Euthyphro’s conversations dealing with the definitions of piety and gods opinion. This dialogue begins when Socrates runs into Euthyphro outside the authorities and the courts. Socrates is there because he has been charged with impiety, and Euthyphro is there to accuse his father for the death of a man named Meletus who was a farm hard.
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.
Euthyphro In the Story Euthyphro is faced with many questions by the curious Socrates. One of the questions that with no doubt had a great significance was whether holy or piety is loved by the gods because it is holy or if it is holy because it is loved by the gods. This causes a roundabout conversation and at this point in the conversation Euthyphro realizes just this. Euthyphro decides to say that holy is loved by the gods because it is holy instead of its holy because it is loved by the gods.
Well, a dilemma arises. Which end will you take: the first or the latter? With flaws in both answers, Socrates forced Euthyphro to choose one of the two options. Let us start with the answer Euthyphro chose: Something is loved by the gods because it is holy. It sounds alright at first until you look a little closer to the word “holy.”
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.
During his discussion with Socrates, Euthyphro agrees with much of Socrates reasoning. One of these many concessions is that “the gods love the pious act because it is pious”. This concession ultimately leads to Socrates defeating Euthyphro’s claim. Therefore, Euthyphro should have answered slightly different than just a defeated “yes”. However, because of Euthyphro’s definition of the pious, equating the pious to the god loved, the statement is circular in understanding, but it remains a true statement.
Through his intellectual project of studying the wisdom of the politician, poet, and craftsman, he found himself the most wise, for though he may not have gifts in their respective trades, he does not claim to know something that he does in fact not know, hence deeming him the wiser in each scenario. Furthermore, in his ordeal with Euthyphro, his poised questioning positioned him as holding the most wisdom, for his claims of knowing the classifications of actions both pious and impious prove that a concrete definition of these terms ceases to exist, and it takes one far more wise than Euthyphro, who believes the words of humans that bear upon the gods, to consider this. Conversely, via The Epic of Gilgamesh, one may conclude that knowing of a human’s mortality brings about wisdom, though Gilgamesh’s quest in gaining this knowledge differed greatly from that of Socrates. Though achieved in different methods, these two tales provide insight to the essential question of what it means to be
The dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro starts off on the Porch of the King Archon and it is revealed that they are both involved in court cases. Socrates is being accused of having corrupted the youth and Euthyphro is trying his father for the murder of a serf. Socrates has sought out his dear friend’s help because he yearns to better understand the nature of piety. Despite the many ways that Euthyphro could have chosen to respond, he explains it as “doing as [he is] doing” (18).
After going back and forth on how Euthyphro did not answer the question, Socrates states, “... Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?” (Page 10) I had to reread this quote many times before getting an understanding of what Socrates was trying to say which was simply asking the question as to what came first. For example, did the Gods come first and create what was pious and what was not? Or was pious created first and the Gods came to love it? With Socrates questioning Euthyphro’s answer, it allowed me to think about how effective and incredible his thinking was.
Is Euthyphro pious in prosecuting his father? According to the Euthyphro, the main characters like Socrates and Euthyphro have their own notions about piety. The way the main characters understand piety is different from each other. The first, Euthyphro examines himself and brings evidence against his father.
By doing this Aristophane showcases Socrates’ ability to establish a sense of aporia, which is a state of puzzlement or being puzzled. This is a consistent characteristic of Socrates because this is achieved in Euthyphro when he questions the
The dialogue, "Euthyphro" by Plato discusses what is considered
