Do we know, or do we not know? That is the question.
First Paper: Socrates and Teaching
Socrates’ Teaching Method: Euthyphro In Euthyphro, Socrates and Euthyphro are discussing the topic of piety. Namely what is in fact piety, and once one knows that, how he can regard himself to be 'pious'. According to Euthyphro, there are three definitions of piety: doing what Euthyphro is currently doing; but this needs an essence, which is basically a refutation agreement between the gods. On the topic of gods, Euthyphro's second definition is that piety is what the gods love, and thirdly that piety is what all the gods love. Based off of Euthyphro's definitions, one must ask if something is pious because the gods love it? Or do the gods love it because
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This paradox is seen in Socrates's discussions with Meno over the concept of virtue. Meno defines virtue as being relative to a person, the ability to rule over others, justice, and the desire or ability to acquire all that is beautiful. With each definition that Meno gives, Socrates refutes it. After some time Meno becomes frustrated with Socrates because Socrates claims he doesn't know what virtue is. According to Meno, we either know something or we do not. If something is known, there is no need to dwell into it any further; if something is unknown we cannot investigate any further simply because we do not know what we are looking for and will be unable to recognize it even if we do find it. This is where the paradox comes into play. Condensed, the paradox involves the following question: how can you refute definitions of "X", and claim not to know what "X" is? Socrates tells Meno that while he does not know what virtue is, maybe Meno could have known before he talked with Socrates, but now Meno does not know what virtue is either. Socrates wants to change Meno's opinion, but in order to do that, he must first admit his own ignorance. Because he never wrote anything down, all of Socrates's teaching methods were verbal. This method of teaching relied on the fact that as a teacher himself, Socrates knows nothing; his knowledge is gained through verbal communication with his students. The back and forth of question and "answer" combined with the refutation of all the "answers" by Socrates is what allows him to be considered to be as wise as he is. This method of teaching allows for a deeper level of critical thinking. Learning is no longer about getting the answer, but about the thought process that gets you to that answer. What questions need to be asked that have never been asked before and if they have been asked, why a resolution has not yet been
In the context of the dialogue, this simply segues to a logical argument about the definition of piety, and the question is more or less rhetorical as Socrates asks it. When Euthyphro chooses the first option, the discussion moves on to his next point without further ado, and the implication that this limits the omnipotence of the gods is ignored, probably because the omnipotence of the pantheon of gods wasn?t an assumption of Greek theology (after all, as we read in the dialogue, the father and grandfather of Zeus were castrated; what kind of omnipotent being would allow that to happen to himself?). However, when read with a Judeo-Christian concept of God in mind, the dilemma becomes this:
Socrates a classical Greek philosopher and character of Plato’s book Phaedo, defines a philosopher as one who has the greatest desire of acquiring knowledge and does not fear death or the separation of the body from the soul but should welcome it. Even in his last days Socrates was in pursuit of knowledge, he presents theories to strengthen his argument that the soul is immortal. His attempts to argue his point can’t necessarily be considered as convincing evidence to support the existence of an immortal soul.
Euthyphro by asking “whether the pious or holy is beloved by the gods because it is holy,
Euthyphro’s second definition of piety is “the pious is what the gods love”. Socrates takes this idea and
The paradox arises due to a number of assumptions concerning knowledge, inquiry and definition made by both Socrates and Meno. The assumptions of Socrates are:
According to the notes from class, true paradox is defined as two ideas or principles that seem irreconcilable with each other, but prove on closer scrutiny, simultaneously valid. The theory of paradox is recommended to address and remove the ineffectiveness of opposing viewpoints. The benefit of the theory of paradox is that it seeks to recognize and value all perspectives. It also encourages using the effective aspects of all perspectives.
During the dialogue, Euthyphro defines, “Piety means prosecuting the unjust individual who has committed murder or sacrilege, or any other such crime, as I am doing now, whether he is your father or mother or whoever he is.” Given this Euthyphro overarching principles can be summarized as divine law requires to prosecute the offender no matter who she or he is. Also, the ideology should be what befits humans as well. Socrates is fine with how Euthyphro accounts the factual evidence of his father’s misguided acts. What Socrates takes problem is how Euthyphro uses greek mythology to highlight that taking action against your parents is the correct direction of action. Due to the fact that mythology isn’t confirmed to be true in any sense, socrates feels as though this is extremely inappropriate. Euthyphro actions should be based on divine law with results in him being impious. Socrates ultimate principles can be summarized as respect for parents should be the ultimate law combined with whatever does not befit the gods shouldn’t befit everyone else. Insert another
It has puzzled many philosophers throughout the ages. Socrates’s theory of recollection attempts to solve the paradox. The theory does answer the paradox in a way. However, theory itself has many problems including its circular nature and its purpose. The goal is to give Meno the instruction of how to enquire virtue when nobody knows what virtue is. The theory only says that Meno may be able to learn about virtue because his soul is immortal. He will be fine as long as he is engaging in the process of recollection. The paradox’s problem still remains
In the Euthyphro, Socrates is making his way into the courthouse; however, prior to entering he had a discussion with a young priest of Athens, Euthyphro. This dialogue relates religion and justice to one another and the manner in which they correlate. Euthyphro feels as though justice necessitates religion and Socrates feels the opposite, religion necessitates justice. Euthyphro claims that religion is everything, justice, habits, traditions, customs, cultures, etc. all are derived from religion. Socrates went on to question what exactly would be the definition of pious. Euthyphro offered Socrates three definitions of pious and in all three Socrates was able to successfully find fault...
question. The Euthyphro has Socrates and Euthyphro discussing what piety is. In an attempt to give an answer to this question, Euthyphro states that what he is doing now namely, prosecuting his own father for murder is pious (5E). Socrates rejects this as an answer saying that he wishes to know “what this form [piety] is” (6E). In essence, what Socrates is looking for here, is a formal definition. In his paper, Geach claims that this is a grave mistake on Socrates part. In his search for knowledge of piety, Socrates has made the errors that Geach enumerates
In The Euthyphro, Socrates uses his Socratic Method to disprove the Divine Command theory to his friend, Euthyphro. According to the textbook, the Socratic Method is a method that Socrates would use to get to the foundation of his students beliefs. He would ask continual questions about a student’s belief or assumption until a contradiction was raised. By doing so, Socrates would force his students to question their own beliefs and truly discern why they believed them. Socrates applied this method to Euthyphro when Socrates and Euthyphro had a conversation in regards to the definition of holiness. During this conversation, Euthyphro states that holiness is what is agreeable to the gods. However, Socrates disputes this idea by stating that gods quarrel just as humans quarrel in regards to issues such as right and wrong, holy and unholy, and justice and injustice. With this reasoning, Socrates argues that what one god may view as right or moral, another god may view as wrong or immoral. Thus, an action may be acceptable and moral to one god and unacceptable and immoral to another, and what is considered to
Socrates: A Gift To The Athenians As Socrates said in Apology by Plato, “...the envy and detraction of the world, which has been the death of many good men, and will probably be the death of many more…”(Philosophical Texts, 34) Throughout history, many leaders have been put to death for their knowledge. In Apology, Socrates- soon to be put to death- says he was placed in Athens by a god to render a service to the city and its citizens. Yet he will not venture out to come forward and advise the state and says this abstention is a condition on his usefulness to the city.
Plato is one of the most famous Greek philosophers who has many published works that contributes to the field of ethics. In many of his philosophical debates, Plato claims that the soul never perishes after death and only the body dies. One of Plato 's famous works that argues for the immortality of the soul is the Socratic dialogue, The Phaedo. In this dialogue, Phaedo is telling the story of Socrates ' death, who appears as the main character in the dialogue. Socrates was executed by drinking poison hemlock after the state of Athens accused him of corrupting the youth. The dialogue depicts Socrates as a great philosopher who does not fear death and remains calm while practicing philosophical debates with his students during his last few hours
Euthyphro was arguing that by doing what the gods believe is holy and pious you are making them better, in other words you are taking care of them and it is like a kind of service that you are doing towards the gods. Euthyphro said, “The kind of care, Socrates, that slaves take of their masters” which meant that you are taking care of them in the sense that you are making them better and not actually caring for them (17, 13d). In other words, you are helping improve them and this is a service that the gods appreciate and want you to do. He believed that this service is improving the gods and that they like this service. The gods believe that being holy is a service towards them, therefore there should be a reason on why the gods use us and want to reward our holiness. He believes that the gods choose what is holy for a reason and should be approved by
The interesting dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro demonstrates this Socratic method of questioning in order to gain a succinct definition of a particular idea, such as piety. Though the two men do not come to a conclusion about the topic in the conversation seen in Euthyphro, they do discover that piety is a form of justice, which is more of a definition than their previous one. Their conversation also helps the reader to decipher what makes a good definition. Whenever Euthyphro attempts to define piety, Socrates seems to have some argument against the idea. Each definition offered, therefore, becomes more succinct and comes closer to the actual concept of piety, rather than just giving an example or characteristic of it. To be able to distinguish between a good definition and a bad one is the first step to defining what Socrates so desperately wished to define: w...