What Is Socrates Piety

Socrates is regarded as one of the most influential philosophers of not only his lifetime, but also today. Why is he still held in such high regard when his death was over thousands of years ago? The answer is simple. Socrates employed a unique method of questioning when discussing philosophical topics, such as piety. The Socratic Method, or elenchus, was originally designed by Socrates as a way to install critical thinking, and is still an important method being used in the modern world. In order to understand the elenchus in its entirety, it is essential to examine the history behind the method. According to Heather Coffey, University of North Carolina’s School of Education writer, Socrates developed this method of discourse over two thousand
As previously mentioned, Socrates employs the elenchus to scrutinize Euthyphro’s definition of piety. The two men encounter each other at **Archon** because they are both having legal issues. Socrates is being tried with corrupting the youth of Athens **line #** Euthyphro, however, is bringing charges against his father for murdering a slave. Socrates asks Euthyphro why he would be doing such an act to his father when the slave was not even a part of his family: “you don’t fear that by pursuing a lawsuit against your father, you in turn may happen to be doing an impious act?” (Euthyphro 4e). Euthyphro’s answer is that taking action against his father could not be considered impious because Zeus did the same to his father, Cronus. Zeus is believed to be the “most just of the gods,” however, he imprisoned for Cronus’ the killings of his other sons (Euthyphro 5e-6a). This is how Euthyphro justifies his actions to Socrates. He believes that if the most just god can commit the same act he is pursing against his father, then the act must be considered pious. This prompts Socrates to ask Euthyphro what the definitions of pious and impious truly are. Euthyphro’s first answer comes without hesitation: “what is dear to the gods is pious, and what is not dear is impious” (Euthyphro 6e-7a). Socrates’ question and Euthyphro’s
Along with law professors at the University of Chicago, the elenchus is being found in the classrooms of non-law majors. The Starting Point project is an online resource that is trying to jumpstart improvements to teaching undergraduate geoscience students. One of the improvements it suggests using in the classroom is none other than the Socratic Method. Starting Point outlines how to utilize the method for the most enriching learning experience. Dorothy Merritts, a geoscience professor at Franklin & Marshall College, is one of the writers for Starting Point. In her piece “Using Socratic Questioning,” she explains the benefits of using and how to use the elenchus in the geoscience classroom. Her first instruction is for teachers to act as a critical thinking model. Additionally, she says it is crucial that teachers repect their students’ opinions and pose meaningful questions to the students. This will create a “intellectually stimulating classroom environment and acknowledges the value of the student” (Merritts). In this type of environment, students will be able to flourish in their field because they have been challenged to think critically and logically. Merritts also gives some helpful tips for teachers to make the use of the Socratic Method efficient. Two of the tips are to “follow up on students’ responses and invite elaboration” and “stimulate the discussion with