Essay on Plato's Euthyphro

The Euthyphro is an example of early dialogue of Plato's: it is brief, deals with a question in ethics, this is a dialogue which took place between Socrates and Euthyphro who claims to be an expert in a certain field of ethics, which ended prematurely. It is also puzzled with Socratic irony, the irony is present because Socrates is reckoning Euthyphro as the teacher when in fact Socrates is teaching Euthyphro. Socrates poses as the ignorant student wishing to learn from a supposed expert, when in fact he shows Euthyphro to be the ignorant one who knows nothing about the subject on which they are discussing, which is piety and impiety. This setup is necessary in order to encourage Euthyphro to bring forth and evaluate the arguments being formed by him, and thus to lead him to see their faults for himself.

Euthyphro accepts these ideas because he offers different definitions that are in line with the clarified ideations. Socrates uses basic philosophical question “What is holy?” , which leads to a myriad of definitions with different characteristics. Euthyphro sums up all these characteristics in the final definition.

In this interaction, Socrates considers Euthyphro to help in explaining all there is to be known about piety and the related impiety. Euthyphro confirms that he is indeed an expert in the matter relating to religious issues and can thus assist Socrates in the charges that face him. In their argument in the efforts to define the true meaning of piety, Socrates and Euthyphro engage in the analysis of issues that threaten to confuse human understanding about the whole issue of holiness and impiety in the society, (Plato & Gallop, 2008). To understand the true meaning of piety, it is of great importance to take a holistic analysis of the beliefs of the people about

Plato’s Socratic dialogue the “Euthyphro” concerns itself with the virtuous concept of piety and pious acts. Socrates holds that in order to be considered an expert in piety, one must truly understand what it means to be pious. The desire to distinguish the pious from the impious leads to dialectical discussion ultimately resulting in Euthyphro’s proposition of three definitions, including the proposal that piety is what is loved by all of the Gods (9e). Whilst Euthyphro’s first definitions are immediately rejected by Socrates, on the grounds that they are superficial and contradictory, there is some validity to the argument that piety by definition, is what is loved by all Gods. By amending the definition to add an element of universality

In this paper, I argue that, in Plato’s Euthyphro, Euthyphro’s defense of the view that his father is a murderer is not cogent enough to effectively prove his point. I will present the argument that Euthyphro spends more time talking about himself and his decision to prosecute his father than he does discussing the actual crime. I will then present the argument that Euthyphro does not use specific, factual evidence to bolster his judgement.

Socrates put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own

Socrates and Euthyphro cross paths one day at the courts of Athens. At the time, Euthyphro was there to prosecute his father for murder. Socrates takes the opportunity to ask Euthyphro what the meaning of piety is. In this paper, I exam the issue at hand, how Socrates uses his question to doubt Euthyphro’s thesis, and give an explanation as to what this question means for someone who maintains that God is the origin or foundation of morality.

Therefore, appealing to action does not clarify what constitutes piety. Moreover one god may perceive Euthyphro’s action as just, while another deplores is as unjust. Another proposition is that piety is what is universally loved by the gods, and impiety is what is universally hated by the gods. However, is the particular action pious because it is loved by the gods or loved by the gods because it is pious? Is piety intrinsically virtuous or virtuous because external praise by the gods? Socrates poses a remarkably timeless question. For example, is it unjust to kill Syrians because human life has intrinsic value, or is it unjust to kill by consensus? Is there an objective moral duty to preserve human life, or is the value of life merely dependent on social

The Divine Command Theory is the assertion in ethics that an action is morally right if, and only if, it conforms to God’s will. This premise ties together morality and religion in a manner that seems expected, since it provides a solution to arguments about moral relativism and the objectivity of ethics. On the other hand, in Plato’s Euthyphro, Socrates questions whether something is right because God commands it, or whether God commands it because it is right. The ethical implications of the Euthyphro problem suggest that the relationship between morality and religion might not be as straightforward as suggested by the Divine Command Theory.

In “Euthyphro”, Plato dictates to readers a conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro as Euthyphro is exiting the courthouse in Athens. At this point Socrates has been trialed and charged with the crimes of impiety and corrupting the youth he taught, of which included Plato himself, who recorded all of Socrates’ conversations and later founded one of the first universities of the western world. Socrates challenged many of the ideas of his time and in doing so, gathered together as many experts on as many fields as he could find and asked them each to defend what they knew. What triggered this was the Oracle of Adelphi telling him he is the ‘wisest man’. This made very many people unhappy because he had such a strong influence over the youth he taught and lectured to,

Euthyphro's dilemma is presented during the conversation about the nature of piety between Socrates and Euthyphro which was composed by Plato, a student of Socrates. Socrates uses the Socratic method to push Euthyphro to keep coming up with definitions of what piety is. The conversation starts when Socrates asks Euthyphro why he is prosecuting his own father. Euthyphro answers this question by arguing that piety is,"prosecuting anyone who is guilty of murder, sacrilege, or of any other similar crime" (p.10). Euthyphro sees himself as an example of piety because he is punishing wrongdoers. However, Socrates is not satisfied with this definition because it is only one example of what piety is. This leads Socrates to keep questioning Euthyphro

He believes that the gods love what they love and in terms of piety the gods love something that is just pious. Therefore god-loved and pious are two different things which Socrates explained in detail of why the two are different. From this interaction, Socrates introduces his own definition. He defines Piety as a part of justice concerned with service to the gods. This interaction demonstrates Socrates as a preacher because he is trying convincing Euthyphro that his definitions of a piety lack precision because they

Socrates was a moral philosopher who was accused of impiety and was about to be tried for a crime, the nature of which no one seemed to understand. The trial and death of Socrates has four dialogs known as the Euthyphro, the Apology, the Crito, and the Phaedo which describes the process of Socrates’ controversial and insightful trial that raises the questions about human morality. Within the story we learned that the relationship between morality and religion might not be as clear-cut as some might think, Socrates forces the witnesses of his trial as well as ourselves to come to conclusions which result in a paradox that conflicts with the individual beliefs of his audience. In the event in which, Socrates poses a question to himself and Euthyphro, an attempt to answer the question "What is piety?" It has a specific tie to the events in “The Trial and Death of Socrates”, for Socrates had been accused of impiety and was about to be tried for the crime of heresy. The Euthyphro dialogue was written twenty-four centuries ago, and its conclusion is devastating for the whole idea that holiness and morality are very well connected. The idea that, “if God does not make something good by commanding it, but rather instead identifies that which is good, what measurement of morality does he use to make this judgment?” If something is right because god commands it, then it follows that something would be just as right if God instructed differently. If god declares that it is right to

Holiness is a central theme in the Socratic dialogue with Euthyphro. Socrates has taken up the ironic role of a student in the narrative as he attempts to gain knowledge of what holiness entails, from Euthyphro. Socrates meets with Euthyphro as they meet at a court in Athens. He seeks to gain knowledge on holiness, such that, he can use the insights in his trial against Meletus. Earlier, Meletus had charged him for impiety in a court. This justifies the importance that has been placed on the idea. In the ensuing dialogue, Euthyphro serves different definitions of holiness to Socrates. However, each of these is questioned, casting ambiguity over his supposed knowledge.

What does it mean to be pious?  In Plato's Dialogues and the Book of Job, the search for the explanation can be attempted from the readings about Socrates and Job. The two are very different. One, searches for a definition and questions the meaning of piety, whereas the other, Job, one of the most pious men in biblical history, sets by example the meaning of piety by suffering many of God's punishments and yet he remains unwavering in his faith and God.