The Incompleteness of Plato's Euthyphro Essay

Socrates is brought to trail before the citizens of Athens, accused of not recognizing the gods that are recognized by the state. Euthyphro is brought to prosecute his father for murder. Before the trails, they discuss the definition of piety and what the difference is to impiety. Instead of a straight forward answer Euthyphro explains his position on prosecuting his father. Although his father murdered a murderer that fact that Euthyphro knew what his father had done. It would have impious of him to sit back and pretend his father was innocent of such a thing. Euthyphro also discusses the relation to Zeus castrating Cronos for devouring his children. Providing a point that no matter who you are, he who is unjust must get punished. As Socrates finds it difficult to believe such stories his finds himself questioning wether to believe or not. Socrates is in search of a direction definition as to what exactly is piety.

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.

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

Interpretive essay for Euthyphro Euthyphro, a priest in Plato’s dialogue, strives throughout the reading to teach his religion to Socrates. Since Euthyphro portrays himself to be the most intelligent human to mankind, Socrates believes that he must know every words meaning and that guides Socrates to ask him about a word he is curious about; piety. Piety is something he is very curious about and asks Euthyphro many questions about it. Euthyphro gives five intricate versions of piety, but one of them is peculiar and brings to my attention.

In Plato’s Euthyphro, we read about how Socrates is asking Euthyphro of piety and about the situation he is in. Euthyphro must judge a murder, and to the surprise of the audience, the murder was his father. As the scene goes on, Socrates keeps asking what Euthyphro means by piety. In the end, Euthyphro finally answers that piety is what the God’s love or demand. In The Ethical Life, they modify the question asked by Socrates to “Is an action morally right because God commands it, or does God command an action because it is right?”. This question brings up many other questions.

The main question of this dialogue is the definition of the word holy or piety. Euthyphro brags that he is more knowledgeable than his father on matters relating to religion. In this case, Socrates suggests to Euthyphro to define that term. The first definition fails to satisfy Socrates because of its limitation in application. Apparently, Socrates perceives this definition as an example rather than a definition. Subsequent arguments and line of questioning lead to five sets of definitions that are refined to find the general definition. Socrates expects that the acceptable general definition of the question will act as a reference point in his defense.

As Euthyphro is essentially a self-righteous man, he asserts that piety is to do as he is doing, "that is to say, prosecuting any one who is guilty of murder, sacrilege, or of similar crime whether he be your father or mother, or whoever he may be that makes no difference; and not to prosecute them is impiety" (Plato, 5e). Euthyphro's definition of piety contains many implications, the biggest of which is that Euthyphro considers himself to be a good example of piety in action.

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

Throughout the dialogue between Euthyphro and Socrates, they both try to come up with an understanding of the relationship between piety and justice. Within the discussion, Socrates questions Euthyphro to see if he can define the difference and similarities between justice and piety, and if they interact with each other. Eventually, Euthyphro and Socrates came up with the conclusion that justice is a part of piety. This is the relationship that I agree most with because in my own opinion, I believe that all of the gods and people agree that human beings who commit unjust actions need to be punished for their actions.

In the dialogue Euthyphro, Socrates debates the definition of piety with Euthyphro, a priest who's on his way to convict his father for murder. Although Socrates pleads for a clear definition of the term, Euthyphro continues to give unsatisfactory answers that are subsequently proven problematic by the philosopher. While no one definition is agreed upon in the dialogue, an acceptable definition that Euthyphro could have proposed is that piety involves ignoring human "wisdom" and pleasures (fame, wealth, reputation, etc.) and acknowledging/obeying the infinite wisdom of the divine. Ultimately, Socrates would have accepted this definition due to its acknowledgment that human wisdom and knowledge is insignificant; however, Euthyphro most likely did not offer this definition because of his pride and his

The literary work entitled Euthyphro, attempts to define the word piety, or justice before the Gods. This leads to a dilemma pertaining to one who thinks that morality comes from God. Euthyphro is looking for the definition of the word piety, as the word itself seems to be incapable of being restricted to one understanding. In this essay I will describe the different given definitions of piety, argue the best definition given by Socrates, and analyze and criticize the definitions.

Euthyphro intends his definition of piety. If right actions are pious only because the gods love them, then moral rightness is completely

Euthyphro’s second definition is linked to the gods. He explains that “Pious is what all the gods love, and the opposite, what all the gods hate, is impious” (9, e), meaning that piety is determined by the gods. Socrates finds this to be false, due to the fact that in order for the gods to decide what is pious, they would all have to agree. However, each god has his/her own opinion about what is honorable or just and what is not. Therefore, a decision is difficult to reach and Socrates concludes that this definition cannot be true. This definition however is the most important one because Socrates creates a strong

Euthyphro responds by asserting that piety is that which is approved [loved] or sanctioned by the gods; whence impiety is whatever is disapproved of by the gods. However, as Socrates points out, the question poses a dilemma for those who believe as Euthyphro does that Truth is revealed by divine authority alone.

Euthyphro tells Socrates that he is prosecuting his father for murdering a servant. Euthyphro thinks prosecuting his own father is a right thing because it’s a pious action. Socrates then asks Euthyphro about the definition of a pious action or piety. Euthyphro answers “What is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious”. (Euthyphro 7a) After hearing this, Socrates discusses that there are enmities and disputes among gods as well.