Socrates Plato Piety
Pursuing Piety
Euthyphro is a text written by Plato, about a debate between Socrates and Euthyphro on the subject of piety and holiness, rich with Socratic irony, Socrates pretends to be clueless on the subject and asks Euthyphro what his thoughts are on the subject of piety and what makes an action pious, however Euthyphro starts digging himself a bigger and bigger hole even though he initially posed as almost an expert on piety, Socrates finally shows him how ignorant he truly is on the subject, however the
Before the debate starts, Euthyphro tells Socrates he is there at the porch of the King Archon because he is persecuting his father for murder, Socrates seems shocked that Euthyphro would persecute his own father and tells him that …show more content…
Therefore, one must differentiate between the two and decide which one is less important in the eyes of the gods.
Euthyphro is committing an act of piousness regardless of the fact that he is persecuting his own father because even if the murderer is his father, the man has committed a murder, by negligence, but still murder. Euthyphro is not persecuting his father in his eyes, he is persecuting a murderer. Euthyphro is simply asking for justice for a person who died in the cold, hungry and bound. Euthyphro’s father also comes off as a hypocrite as he was willing to forego all of the slave’s rights as he deprived him of any sort of security and left him on a ditch in the cold while they waited for the interpreter of religious law because the slave himself had committed a murder, although one could argue that the slave was not in the right state of mind as he was drunk when he committed the murder, yet Euthyphro’s father becomes angry at Euthyphro for persecuting him when he has also committed a murder, albeit unknowingly as he simply didn’t concern himself with the slave after leaving him in the ditch. Therefore, why should Euthyphro concern himself with his father’s wishes when he himself also didn’t concern himself with a murderer? As Euthyphro states, even if the murderer is his
Euthyphro is a text written by Plato, about a debate between Socrates and Euthyphro on the subject of piety and holiness, rich with Socratic irony, Socrates pretends to be clueless on the subject and asks Euthyphro what his thoughts are on the subject of piety and what makes an action pious, however Euthyphro starts digging himself a bigger and bigger hole even though he initially posed as almost an expert on piety, Socrates finally shows him how ignorant he truly is on the subject, however the
Before the debate starts, Euthyphro tells Socrates he is there at the porch of the King Archon because he is persecuting his father for murder, Socrates seems shocked that Euthyphro would persecute his own father and tells him that …show more content…
Therefore, one must differentiate between the two and decide which one is less important in the eyes of the gods.
Euthyphro is committing an act of piousness regardless of the fact that he is persecuting his own father because even if the murderer is his father, the man has committed a murder, by negligence, but still murder. Euthyphro is not persecuting his father in his eyes, he is persecuting a murderer. Euthyphro is simply asking for justice for a person who died in the cold, hungry and bound. Euthyphro’s father also comes off as a hypocrite as he was willing to forego all of the slave’s rights as he deprived him of any sort of security and left him on a ditch in the cold while they waited for the interpreter of religious law because the slave himself had committed a murder, although one could argue that the slave was not in the right state of mind as he was drunk when he committed the murder, yet Euthyphro’s father becomes angry at Euthyphro for persecuting him when he has also committed a murder, albeit unknowingly as he simply didn’t concern himself with the slave after leaving him in the ditch. Therefore, why should Euthyphro concern himself with his father’s wishes when he himself also didn’t concern himself with a murderer? As Euthyphro states, even if the murderer is his