...Euthyphro By Plato（Written 380 B.C.E） Euthyphro. Why have you left the Lyceum, Socrates? and what are you doing in the Porch of the King Archon? Surely you cannot be concerned in a suit before the King, like myself? Socrates. Not in a suit, Euthyphro; impeachment is the word which the Athenians use. Euth. What! I suppose that some one has been prosecuting you, for I cannot believe that you are the prosecutor of another. Soc. Certainly not. Euth. Then some one else has been prosecuting you? Soc. Yes. Euth. And who is he? Soc. A young man who is little known, Euthyphro; and I hardly know him: his name is Meletus, and he is of the deme of Pitthis. Perhaps you may remember his appearance; he has a beak, and long straight hair, and a beard which is ill grown. Euth. No, I do not remember him, Socrates. But what is the charge which he brings against you? Soc. What is the charge? Well, a very serious charge, which shows a good deal of character in the young man, and for which he is certainly not to be despised. He says he knows how the youth are corrupted and who are their corruptors. I fancy that he must be a wise man, and seeing that I am the reverse of a wise man, he has found me out, and is going to accuse me of corrupting his young friends. And of this our mother the state is to be the judge. Of all our political men he is the only one who seems to me to begin in the right way, with the cultivation of virtue in youth; like a good husbandman...
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...Euthyphro Lisa White PHI208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning Instructor: Ian McDougall May 27, 2013 Euthyphro 1- Explain how the concept of holiness emerges in the dialogue and why it takes a prominent position in the conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro. In the Euthyphro, the concept of holiness emerges as Socrates and Euthypho are discussing how Euthypho’s father is accused of murder. They start off my discussing if the murder was just or not. If the murder was just then Euthypho has a duty to let the matter be. If the murder was unjust then action should be taken against him. Euthypho then states that “A son is impious who prosecutes a father. Which shows, Socrates, how little they know what the gods think about piety and impiety.” (Plato, ND) After which Socrates questions what piety and impiety means. This then spurs the conversation towards their concepts of holiness. 2- Present the three definitions that Euthyphro uses in his response to Socrates, and then explain how Socrates refutes each of Euthyphro’s definitions. The first definition that Euthyphro uses is that piety is doing as he is doing, by persecuting any one that is guilty, whether it is of murder, sacrilege or anything that is similar to that. He states that impiety is not punishing those that are guilty of murder or sacrilege. Socrates feels that this is not a definition and isn’t dealt with properly. Socrates refutes this by stating those who prosecute are an example of a holy act and not a...
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...Euthyphro by Plato Essay Porsha Jones PHI208 February 03,2014 Megan McLaughlin Socrates is accused for corrupting the young Athenians and not believing in the Gods and is facing trial. Socrates requests that Euthyphro teach him the meaning of piety, when he finds out that Euthyphro is persecuting his father for being impious. Euthyphro gives off attributes instead of the nature of piety. Socrates refutes Euthyphro's responses and persuades him to agree on what Socrates believes. They both agree eventually on piety having to do with justice The concept of holiness emerges into the dialogue from the moment it was known that Socrates was accused for lacking holiness and misrepresenting religious doctrine, and this is why he was facing trial. Socrates ask Euthyphro for the definition of piety and it is when Euthyphro responds the second time telling Socrates that holiness is what is pleasant to the gods, that it comes into notion. Holiness is important in the dialogue not only to prove that Euthyphro was not as wise as he thought but also so Socrates could know the nature of piety and use it to justify himself and his lifestyle. With Euthyphro being a believer of the gods and Socrates not believing in the gods, Socrates criticized Euthyphro's thoughts. Socrates uses elenchos approach with Euthyphro by asking questions of others to try and lead them indirectly to the truth. He is facing trial for this reason, he was accused of...
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...Euthyphro – Plato Euthyphro – Plato The concept of holiness emerges in the dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro after Socrates appears in court to respond to the charges of impiety and corrupting the youth are brought against him. The concept of piety and holiness takes a prominent position in the conversation because it is the reason behind Socrates’ impending trial. There he encounters Euthyphro, who reveals to Socrates that he is prosecuting his father for murder to which Socrates is almost sarcastically in awe. This concept takes a prominent position in conversation because Socrates questions the definition of piety and holiness, and questions Euthyphro if his knowledge of religion and things both pious and impious that he’s not afraid of being impious by bringing action against his own father (Plato and Jowett, n.d.). Over the course of the conversation, Euthyphro presents multiple definitions, through his own interpretation, of what piety is. The first definition presented by Euthyphro is “that piety is doing as I do, prosecuting you father (if he is guilty) on a charge of murder; doing as the gods do-as Zeus did to Cronos, and Cronos to Uranus” (Plato & Jowett, n.d.). Socrates’ feels that his dislike of the mythologies is what causing him to be charged with impiety, He goes on to refute this “definition” by stating “doing as I do, charging a father with murder, may be a single instance of piety, but can hardly be regarded as a general definition” (Plato &...
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...Sciences Department : Political Science Instructor : Dr. Istvan Albert ARANYOSI Course : PHIL 243-9 Essay 1 / First Draft 1. Analyze the following fragment from Plato‘s dialogue Euthyphro (11a, page 14): "But if the god-loved and the pious were the same, my dear Euthyphro, then if the pious was being loved because it was pious, the god-loved would also be being loved because it was god-loved; and if the god-loved was god-loved because it was being loved by the gods, then the pious would also pious because it was being loved by the gods. But now you see that they are in opposite cases as being altogether different from each other: the one is such as to be loved because it is being loved, the other is being loved because it is such as to be loved.” There were plenty of gods in time of Socrates and Euthyphro but what is liked or disliked by gods was decided by man.When Socrates and Euthyphro encountered in the court, the first thing they asked was "Why he is here?".Socrates was charged by being impious and Euthyphro was charging his father because his father did something impious.In this case, what Socrates did was not believing what all people believe and this action was considered as impiety but, Euthyphro was sending his father to death because his father killed somebody and what Euthyphro was doing is considered as the right thing, even if his father commited crime.In the dialogue we see how the definition of piety and impiety changes from beginning to end of the dialogue...
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...basis of contentious debates difficult within society. Finding common ground within these oppositions can be challenging because of the diversity of cultural, religious, and moral values, and beliefs in society. Such is the situation with Socrates and Euthyphro. Plato’s Euthyphro is a discussion that takes place in the Athens courtyard prior to Socrates trial. Socrates faces charges in Athens with impeity for corrupting the youth, and falsifying new Gods. Euthyphro is appearing in court involving prosecution of a case against his own father for impiety. His father permitted a worker, responsible for allowing the death of a slave, restrained in a ditch, by command of Euthyprho’s father who had sent a messenger to ask a priest what to do with him. Before the messenger could return, the prisoner died from hunger and exposure. Socrates is not convinced that Euthyphro is doing the pious thing by prosecuting his father for murder. He urges Euthyphro to teach him about holiness, so he can make his own decision if Euthyphro’s actions against his father are moral. The two men continue to have an in-depth discussion in which Euthyphro tries to validate prosecuting his father by presenting Socrates various definitions of piety. Euthyphro gives Socrates his first definition of what piety is. He says that prosecuting those guilty of committing crimes is holy, and by not doing so, it is impious. Even though Socrates agrees that...
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...Week Three Euthyphro Plato What is the definition of pity? What is the definition of holiness? All individuals have their own way of thinking and views. What one may think of holy and pity another may not. What will be discussed in this paper is the concept of holiness emerges in the dialogue and why it takes a prominent position in the conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro, the three definitions that Euthyphro uses in his response to Socrates, Formulate your own argument as to what you think Socrates’s goal is in this dialogue. And finally a definition of my own of piety/ and holiness. There are several times that holiness has emerged throughout the dialogue. In the dialogue Socrates and Euthyphro are speaking of Euthyphro father being charged with murder than they began to speak of holiness and the knowledge of religion. Socrates states in the dialogue “Euthyphro! And is your knowledge of religion and of things pious and impious so very exact, that, supposing the circumstances to be as you state them, you are not afraid lest you too may be doing an impious thing in bringing an action against your father”( Socrates, 2010)? Holiness takes prominent position in the conversation between the Socrates and Euthyphro because Euthyphro wants to get his father in trouble for the murder and the conversation about holiness arises. The main problem is what are holy and the definition. No matter what one may believe in, one should still have faith, believe and follow the GODs...
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...In Plato’s Euthyphro, Socrates meets Euthyphro at king Archon’s court, where Socrates is on trial for charges of corrupting the youth and not believing in the gods of the city. Euthyphro is at court for putting charges on his father for leaving one of the slaves, a murderer, to die. Euthyphro, a priest, believes that he has a particular knowledge of the term piety and impiety. There is an ongoing battle between Socrates and Euthyphro regarding the intention to find an objective definition for the term piety. This presents the conflict that is it even possible to have an objective definition or a distinct definition of a concept or just a subjective meaning of the concept. In the following paper, it will explain the three definitions of the term pious that Euthyphro presents to Socrates and the dilemma with each of these definitions....
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...1. While Socrates and Euthyphro talk outside the king’s porch, Euthyphro tells Socrates that he is there to accuse his old father for killing one of his employees. Socrates surprised, answers that it should not be an easy task to accuse his own family that perhaps if it were a stranger would otherwise. An indignant Euthyphro replies that it is ridiculous to think if it is family or not, the only thing should be consider is whether the murderer did fairly or not. To this fact, Socrates suspected Euthyphro is a wise man, and possesses knowledge of what is piety and thus makes it known to Euthyphro, to which he affirm that he is, by the grace of Zeus, that this makes him different from the rest of the Athenians. 2. Socrates presses Euthyphro to define what piety is, because despite the multiple attempts, Euthyphro does to define it and does not succeed on his answers. Socrates brings down all his explanations using his dialectic method. Even so Euthyphro insist on knowing what piety is, so Socrates continues to insist and demand a clear proof of what is piety. After several attempts the only thing that he manages to say is, that holy is what he does, when he accused his father of murder. Socrates asked Euthyphro not to taught him one or two holy things, but rather to teach clearly what is what makes things holy, since...
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...Euthyphro and Socrates meet to discuss the nature of piety and impiety. Through Socratic examination, Socrates challenges Euthyphro’s religious beliefs through questioning the underlying presumptions which constituent the fundamental belief of what is a right and wrong decision for Euthyphro and his religious followers. In this series of discussion, Euthyphro concludes with a variation of answers which differs from his previous conclusion. The first assumption that Euthyphro claims is that piety is to prosecute those who are unjust, also known as the impious, against the will of the righteous gods. Socrates rejects this definition, in which he states that here must be something, a standard of some sort that makes each impious act deemed to...
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...Should we consider the Euthyphro Dialogue as a dialogue about the proper methods of thinking and understanding? It is a great example of how to think through an idea before you just say something is true or not true. In the end, do you get to a final answer? Maybe not, but you will know that the answers or statement made needs to be studied further. It ask the basic question, definition, then with the answer supplied proceed to question the answer and responses to try and dig to the bottom and find the correct answer or conclude the answer is flawed. Socrates guides Euthyphro from the answer he gives about piety to the end of conversation trying to show that his answer is flawed. He starts with the fact that the answer given is an example...
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...In Plato’s “Euthyphro,” Socrates questions a man outside of the courthouse who is turning his father in for illegal activity. Socrates asks him a series of questions that tests Euthyphro’s understanding actions, but moreover Socrates attempts to discover the true meaning of piety, or justice, from what Euthyphro tells him. The line of questioning never really concludes satisfactorily, as Euthyphro excuses himself before Socrates finishes. To many people in this time, this questioning would not only be redundant and ridiculous, but it would also seem ungodly, as if Socrates was questioning the gods themselves when he was dissecting Euthyphro’s understanding of piety. In reality, the reason for Socrates’ questioning was to bring Euthyphro down a peg. Many of the rich, white landowning voters had very self-inflate views of themselves and their understandings of the world. Socrates questioned these inflated men to disrupt their...
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...Plato, Euthyphro 1. What charges is Euthyphro bringing against his father? Euthyphro is charging is father with murder. Does it seem to you like Euthyphro has a reasonable case? Explain No because Euthyphro did not know the meaning from piety to impiety, he did not really have a statement to charge his farther with murder... 2. Pay attention to tone. How would you describe Socrates’ tone in the first part of this dialogue? You may need to come back to this one after you have read the whole thing. Socrates tone of voice started passive but then it started getting heavy after he found out that Euthyphro did know he was talking about. 3. What are the four definitions of piety/holiness that Euthyphro tries to give to Socrates? (Some interpreters say there are five, what do YOU think?) Euthyphro states that the following means Piety- prosecuting anyone who is guilty of murder, sacrilege, or of any similar crime. Then he goes on by saying that God love is pious and holy, and the opposite, which they all hate, impious. I think the fifth definition Euthyphro states is that piety is what is dear to the gods and impiety is that which is not dear to gods... 4. How does Socrates respond to each of these answers? Socrates stated all the gods hate is impious, and what they love pious or holy; and what some of them love and others hate is both or neither he was trying to say does not mean that is the definition of piety and impiety. Socrates you knew there was a difference between words...
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...corrupted. But Socrates does not see how he could be the reason for the corruption of the youth because he always claims to not have any knowledge of anything. In Plato’s The Euthyphro, Socrates has a conversation with Euthyphro about what piety and impiety is. Socrates wanted Euthyphro to be his teacher and teach him everything he knows because he claims that he knows all there is to be known about what piety and impiety is. Therefore, Euthyphro teaches him everything that he knows about what it means to be pious and impious. After he starts to explain everything to him Socrates is not satisfied with any of his definitions that he has proposed to him, so Socrates starts to question him even more, and ask for a better definition. This back and forth conversation goes on for a while, and from Socrates questioning Euthyphro so much, Euthyphro himself starts to question everything that he knows about what it means to be pious and impious. Euthyphro was going to prosecute his very own father for unintentionally killed Euthyphro’s slave that killed one of his father’s slaves. After Socrates questioned him so many different times about what it means to be pious impious it seems that Euthyphro has come to the understanding of how prosecuting his own father would be considered impious. I feel that Euthyphro has come to the conclusion...
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...Towards the end of Plato’s dialogue The Euthyphro, Socrates takes the lead in a debate regarding what defines pious action and uncharacteristically gives significant insight to his own thoughts on what he believes piety to be and its relation to justice. As Socrates poses leading questions on the subject, Euthyphro attempts to reach a concrete definition of piety. At one point he comes very close to doing so, but Socrates quickly and perhaps deliberately changes the direction of the argument back towards uncertainty and confusion. As is the case with most of the Socratic Dialogues, The Euthyphro ends before an agreed conclusion is reached. Towards the end of the dialogue Euthyphro has grown weary of the debate. In an attempt to keep the conversation from losing all momentum, Socrates leads him to assert that piety is only a part of the larger set of justice (12d). This means that what is pious is necessarily just, but what is just is not necessarily pious. Afterwards, Euthyphro defines piety as the part of justice “concerned with tending to the gods, while the remaining part of the just if concerned with tending to human beings” (12e). Socrates focuses on Euthyphro’s use of the word “tend”, and uses his typical method of scrutinization to force Euthyphro into a corner. The argument follows that all tending shares the same aim of benefiting the thing being tended. Therefore, a man’s pious action would actually make the gods better. Euthyphro is quick to deny this (13c); he argues...
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