Preview

Euthyphro

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1169 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Euthyphro
In the Euthyphro by Plato, Socrates and Euthyphro debate the concept of piety and how it relates to the common man. Piety, or justice, is a topic that has challenged men since the beginning of time, as it is subjective to many outside forces including personal beliefs, culture and ethics. In this paper I will discuss how Socrates provoked Euthyphro in a debate to challenge Euthphyro’s views on piety as well as explain my own views on the subject and offer a counter debate using a Socratic response. The story finds the two men meeting on the steps of the courthouse, and stopping to engage in a discussion about the suits they are involved in. Euthyphro is a plaintiff in an action for murder, a suit that he has brought against his father for the neglect and death of a dependent that was a murderer. Socrates is a defendant in a suit for impiety. Socrates, being a great philosopher, engages Euthyphro in a discussion about the concept of piety, where Socrates questions Euthyphro on what piety is and what is impiety. Euthyphro offers three definitions for what he believes piety truly is, however Socrates is dissatisfied in Euthyphro’s effort to explain his definitions. In the first definition Euthyphro states that “Piety is doing as I do” (Gutenberg). Euthyphro considers himself to be a noble and virtuous man for his actions in prosecuting his father, and a fine example of piety. Socrates implores him to look further and find a definition for piety, not just examples. He explains to Euthyphro “Remember that I did not ask you to give me two or three examples of piety, but to explain the general idea which makes all pious things to be pious” (Gutenberg). Socrates is looking for a standard for one to consult to determine if an act is pious or not.

The next definition Euthyphro gives Socrates is “Piety is that which is loved of the gods” (Gutenberg). That which is loved by one God is not always loved by another, and therefore there is no standard among



References: "Greek Mythology." Myths and Legends of the World. 2001. Retrieved February 18, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3490900221.html Nails, Debra, "Socrates", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2010 Edition). Retrieved from:http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2010/entries/socrates/>. Piety [Def. 1].(n.d). In Miriam Webster Online. Retrieved February 17, 2013 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piety The project Gutenberg ebook of euthyphro. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Bibliography: 1dkennedy.org. (2004, July 15). The Greek Myths: 1 - Robert Graves. Retrieved from dkennedy.org Book reviews: http://www.dkennedy.org/C2025243227/E518045992/index.html…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This reading is so confusing, I read it three times and still have some confusion about the Socrates statements. Basically, it is a conversation or arguments between Socrates and Euthyphro. Socrates is in the court because a man whose name is Meletus prosecuted him about corrupting the youth. Therefore, Euthyphro is in the court to prosecute his father for the murder of the servant. It is not proven that his father is killer but Euthyphro is trying to get justice on behalf of the servant. Euthyphro thinks that a person has to pay if he/she does something impiety. Euthyphro explains that piety is something the dear to god and impiety is the thing that you do and god does not like. Euthyphro is trying to explain Socrates that he has knowledge…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates and Euthyphro unexpectedly run into each other outside of the Athens courthouse. Euthyphro went to the courthouse to prosecute his father for killing one of his servants, who was a murderer. Socrates was summoned to court to be charged with disturbing the youth. After Euthyphro stated his business at the courthouse, Socrates assumes that he must be a religious expert if he is willing to prosecute his own father on such a serious charge. Euthyphro then agrees with Socrates that he does indeed know all there is to know about what is holy. Socrates asks Euthyphro to teach him what holiness is, in hope that it will help with his trial.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Phi Euthyphro

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Socrates during this conversation with Euthyphro works to grasp the full understaind of this elusive concept and tries with everything he knows to use logic to understand what the meaning of holiness is, where is came from, and why it has benefits. This paper I will try to explain the concept of holiness as it emerges and identify the three different definitions of piety that Euthyphro uses to help get Socrates to understand. In addition this paper will point out what Socrates goal for this discussion was and also create an argument of my definition of holiness.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the reading Euthyphro, Plato’s end goal is to show that there is no rational relationship between “the pious” and “to be loved by the Gods.” The point of Socrates argument is that he is ultimately asking Euthyphro to explain piety by questioning the characteristics of something that is loved. Is something loved because it is good, is it loved because it is popular, what makes something loved?…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In an analysis of Plato’s Euthyphro, Peter Geach claims that Socrates commits the Socratic fallacy when he refuses Euthyphro’s first definition of piety. Socrates rejects the definition given because it does not give a formal definition of what piety is, but instead offers examples of things and actions that are pious. Geach believes that this is a substantial fallacy committed by Socrates, one that may prevent him from getting at the truth of the matter. I will first expand on Geach’s Socratic fallacy, as well as explain why this fallacy presents itself as a problem for Geach. Then I will examine Euthyphro to see if Geach is correct in assuming that Socrates commits the Socratic fallacy. In addition to Euthyphro, I will look at another one…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Euthyphro dilemma is found in Plato's dialogue Euthyphro, in which Socrates asks Euthyphro, "Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?" Socrates and Euthyphro discuss the nature of piety in Euthyphro. Euthyphro says that the pious is the same thing as what is loved by the gods, but Socrates finds a problem with this: the gods may disagree among themselves. Euthyphro then revises his answer, so that piety is only what is loved by all the gods unanimously.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Napoli, Donna Jo. Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods and Goddesses. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2011. 42-43. Print.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Because everyone in Socrates’s society participated in the same religion, piety was a universally positive trait. Good things came from the gods, and men who engaged in religious acts were generally also pillars of Athenian society. Today piety has a narrower definition. Because religion no longer holds the position it once did in the world, and because people follow so many different religions, piety has been relegated to a rather specific set of qualities, most of which involve devotion to the church. In Socrates’s time, goodness and godliness were so close as to be inseparable, and so to be pious was to be a multitude of positive adjectives that existed in the wide realm of goodness and…

    • 1979 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between ¡§Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen¡¨ and ¡§Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society,¡¨ will help to position Plato¡¦s Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates Idea Of Piety

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Page

    The idea of piety – being holy or religious – began in Euthyphro. In this dialogue, Socrates is asking Euthyphro to define what it means to be holy or religious. However, they keep going back and forth with this idea, as Socrates questions Euthyphro each time he comes up with a new definition. For instance, when initially trying to define it Euthyphro states that him fighting against his father on a murder charge is a pious act. However, Socrates rejects that idea on the grounds that it is an example, and not a legitimate definition of piety. In the next example, Euthyphro gives a slightly better definition, in which he states that piety is what appeases the Gods. While Socrates initially likes this definition better, since it isn’t an example,…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato's Euthyphro

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Euthyphro's second definition of piety is what is pleasing to the gods. Socrates agrees with this definition because it is expressed in a general form, but criticizes because the gods disagree among themselves as to what is right. This would mean that a particular action, disputed by the gods, would be both pious and impious at the same time and this is a logically impossible situation. Euthyphro tries to argue against Socrates' criticism by pointing out that not even the gods would disagree amongst themselves that someone who kills without justification should be punished but Socrates argues that disputes would still arise over just how much justification there actually was and therefore the same action could still be both pious and impious. Socrates yet again believes Euthyphro's 'definition' cannot possibly be a definition.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    euthyphro

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In this essay I will explain the concept of the holiness emerges and why it takes a prominent position in the conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro. I will also explain the three definitions that Euthyphro uses in his response to Socrates and then present Socrates’s refutation of each of Euthyphro definitions. Also this essay will test my ability to develop my own argument as to what I think Socrates’s goal is in this dialogue. How do you know that is his goal? What features of the dialogue align his goals? I will also give own definition of piety/holiness and then take on the role of Socrates and respond to my own definition as I think he would.…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    divine roles matrix

    • 1437 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Phyllis, L. M., & Minkel, W. (2000). Greek mythology. School Library Journal, 46(10), 75-76. Retrieved…

    • 1437 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Parmenides and Heraclitus

    • 5502 Words
    • 23 Pages

    Socrates ' views are analyzed by studying a conversation between Socrates, Cephalus, his son Polemarchus and his followers. The author explains how Socrates enters into a philosophical dialogue with several different individuals who attempt to set down a firm definition of justice. Socrates then sets out to test and challenge their definitions through his method of questioning and counter-examples in an attempt to arrive at a more secure definition of justice, that which cannot be refuted.…

    • 5502 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays