Euthyphro's Definition Of Piety And Uniety
In Plato's dialog, Euthyphro is trying to prosecute his father for murder also Socrates ask Euthyphro to define piety and impiety. Euthyphro explains that what he is doing now, prosecuting the wrongdoer, is pious, whether it be about murder or robbery whether it be your father, mother or a stranger, to not prosecute would be impious.(9e) This first definition is only an example of an instance of piety and does not actually state what makes pious things pious. Just like this definition the rest of his arguments can be countered and denied. Euthyphro is in the wrong, it is unjust to prosecute your own father. Euthyphro is arrogant and self righteous. He is unwilling to hear others opinions, because he believes he is in the right.
For instance,
Euthyphro tells us that one should only watch whether the killer acted justly or not; if so set him free, if not he should be prosecuted. (8c) His narrative of how the murderous servant dies is not only biased but can be seen as contradicting his own argument. In fact, according to the situation he describes his father acted completely just being that he never meant to murder the servant, even though the servant was a murder, he only bounded him so that he can ask for help on how to handle the situation but when he came back it was too late. Being that his intentions weren't evil and he acted fairly instead of taking matters into his own hands, he acted justly and should not be prosecuted. Euthyphro also states at the end of his argument that “[others] ideas of the divine attitude to piety and impiety are wrong.” This is an example of how he is self-righteous, he believes that his view is the correct one and by him believing right is right and wrong is wrong and not wanting to be open to other arguments he is completely blind from the truth. In addition, he then comes up with another definition for piety saying “what is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious.” (11a) This in turn develops a dilemma, creating the question, “Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?” (14a) Euthyphro continues to belie his own definition because Socrates helps in coming to the realization that “god-loved is then not the same as the pious, nor the pious the same as god-loved.”(16a) This is because they are opposite cases, “the one is of a nature to be loved because it is loved, the other is loved because it is of a nature to be loved.” (16c) Euthyphro is unable to come up with a clear and agreeable definition for piety, he continues to go in circles and contradicting himself. To understand piety you must look at the bigger picture, it is not a simple definition, just as the what happened with Euthyphro's father is not a simple matter. It was never Euthyphro's fathers intent to kill the servant, the bigger picture of this situation is that he tied up the murderous man not so that he could harm him but so that him himself and others would be protected. Euthyphro's arguments throughout the entire text are unsure and rebutted. He is wrong to prosecute his father because he is not as wise as he claims to be.
For instance,
Euthyphro tells us that one should only watch whether the killer acted justly or not; if so set him free, if not he should be prosecuted. (8c) His narrative of how the murderous servant dies is not only biased but can be seen as contradicting his own argument. In fact, according to the situation he describes his father acted completely just being that he never meant to murder the servant, even though the servant was a murder, he only bounded him so that he can ask for help on how to handle the situation but when he came back it was too late. Being that his intentions weren't evil and he acted fairly instead of taking matters into his own hands, he acted justly and should not be prosecuted. Euthyphro also states at the end of his argument that “[others] ideas of the divine attitude to piety and impiety are wrong.” This is an example of how he is self-righteous, he believes that his view is the correct one and by him believing right is right and wrong is wrong and not wanting to be open to other arguments he is completely blind from the truth. In addition, he then comes up with another definition for piety saying “what is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious.” (11a) This in turn develops a dilemma, creating the question, “Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?” (14a) Euthyphro continues to belie his own definition because Socrates helps in coming to the realization that “god-loved is then not the same as the pious, nor the pious the same as god-loved.”(16a) This is because they are opposite cases, “the one is of a nature to be loved because it is loved, the other is loved because it is of a nature to be loved.” (16c) Euthyphro is unable to come up with a clear and agreeable definition for piety, he continues to go in circles and contradicting himself. To understand piety you must look at the bigger picture, it is not a simple definition, just as the what happened with Euthyphro's father is not a simple matter. It was never Euthyphro's fathers intent to kill the servant, the bigger picture of this situation is that he tied up the murderous man not so that he could harm him but so that him himself and others would be protected. Euthyphro's arguments throughout the entire text are unsure and rebutted. He is wrong to prosecute his father because he is not as wise as he claims to be.