Whitney Wu Professor Phil Bouska PHIL 1100 14 October 2014 Journal 1 In Plato’s Euthyphro, the main characters are the titular Euthyphro and Socrates. When Plato bumps in Euthyphro, Euthyphro is on the way to court. He is trying his father for murder. This leads to Socrates calling Euthyphro impious, meaning he is unfaithful to the gods. However, Euthyphro argues that what he is doing is pious, as he is prosecuting a murder. After Socrates refuses to take that answer, Euthyphro changes his definition of piety as doing what is dear to the gods. Again, Euthyphro has to change his definition of piety because of Socrates and he says it is what is loved by the gods. His fourth definition of piety is attending to the gods. Finally, Euthyphro makes his last definition of piety, which is doing what makes the gods happy, such as praying and making offerings. When …show more content…
Whenever Euthyphro gives Socrates a definition, Socrates finds a way to turn it around and make his point invalid. When Euthyphro says prosecuting his father is pious, Socrates then asks what the definition of piety is. What Euthyphro said was an example and not what Socrates wants; he wants the true nature of the idea. When Euthyphro says it is what is dear to the gods, Socrates refutes this by saying what is dear to one god may not be dear to another. Euthyphro’s third definition is what is loved by the gods. This is similar to his last definition and Socrates doesn’t accept it either. When Euthyphro says it is attending to the gods, in typical Socrates fashion, he counters it by defining “attending” as improving and the gods cannot be improved. Euthyphro’s fifth and final definition is making the gods happy through offerings and prayers. Socrates says that this is doing business with the gods and still does not improve them. Socrates manages to prove all of Euthyphro’s definitions wrong until Euthyphro get fed up and
Certainly, Socrates’ arguments about the limitations of godly knowledge of the “moral good” devolve the idea of divine command as a cause of piety, but more importantly, it defines the philosophical evaluation of piety as a way to educate Euthyphro to analyze his pre-assumed beliefs with greater conviction. In this dialogue, the issue of the “moral good” becomes a more complex relationship between Euthyphro’s religious and moral perception of philosophy: “I told you a short while ago, Socrates, that it is a considerable task to acquire any precise knowledge of these things” (177). This new perspective defines the effectiveness of Socrates’ argument to dispel the overly confident assumption that the gods approve of piety, since piety has its own unique qualities that need to be defined. This moral and religious relationship is ambiguous because Socrates has opened the possibility of Euthyphro coming to his own conclusions about the gods and the “moral good”, which should be presumed by religious doctrines or in the divine command of the
Two ancient examples of disobedient actions come from different ages revered for standards that hold today and provide a basis for modern law; the Greek and ancient Roman empires. From the Greeks, we have come to know the story of Socrates as memorialized by Plato, and the Roman age was the time of Perpetua, an early Christian woman. The fate of those individuals is the same – a death sentence handed down by the society they lived in. Although the conclusion of their respective lives is the same, the differences that lie in the reasoning of their death run deeper, with several key factors impacting their individual destiny. As we will see, these factors affect their relationship to the states and time periods they existed.
In the Euthyphro, Socrates is having a discussion with Euthyphro about the meaning of piety. Instead of giving a definition of the word, Euthyphro gives examples of the word and never quite gave a
Euthyphro, is one of the many dialogues that was written by the Greek philosopher Plato dicussion the quest for wisdom by his mentor, Socrates. The time that The Euthyphro takes place is doing the time of a trial that Socrates is in regarding some here say that he was corrupting the youth of Athens, and ultimately leads to his demise. It is very important issue due to the system Socrates used to try to understand wisdom, and gives some input on his and Plato's view on holiness altogether. In all, the Euthyphro is a view of how the Socratic way of getting wisdom works and it enters into what Socrates and Plato define holiness as.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Socrates, both born in different time periods, are both similar in the fact that they are both defending their beliefs, and so different with regards to their approach for redemption and their opinions on the issue of civil disobedience. Dr. King was victimized for his skin color, and Socrates for his way of thinking. Socrates and Martin, through the uses of persuasion and persona, convey that what they did was not civil disobedience, but that they acted for the betterment of society.
Socrates has been considered an influential philosopher all throughout history. He used critical thinking to analyze life and created a socratic way of thinking. While Socrates was an important figure in history, Jesus Christ was also a major leader that changed the world with the introduction of Christianity. While analyzing these two men through comparing and contrasting, there are significant similarities and differences regarding their teachings, trial and punishment, and their overall impact on the society.
In Euthyphro, Scorates question Euthyphro about what he believes is the meaning of the piety. Scorates believe that he know the definition of piety and try to tell Socrates about it. This let Socrates to question the definition that Euthyphro gives. Scorates use this method to make Euthyphro to rethink what he believe was justice, and try to find the read answer. Socrates uses this method for anything he is investigating, and what to found the mean of. Socratic Method can make a person question what he or she believes is the definition of a subject. Euthyphro believe that he knew everything about piety, but after talking to Socrates question what he knew. Euthyphro first thought that prosecuting any who is guilty was the definition if pias,
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...
“To stand up for what you believe in is more important than to be scared of imprisonment or death.” – Socrates The Apology
In this section of Euthyphro, a dialogue recounted by Plato, Socrates is urging Euthyphro to define piety. When Euthyphro first explains piety, he names characteristics that exemplify it, but Socrates’ expects a fundamentally sound definition. Euthyphro proposes that “what’s loved by the gods is pious, and what’s not loved by the gods is impious” (Euthyphro, 7a). However, Socrates is not impressed with this definition because it’s ambiguous and dismisses the differences in the gods’ opinions.
When discussing specific knowledge, it is often hard to pin down an exact definition of what it is you are discussing. Often a concept or word will get thrown around so often that it will begin to be taken for granted and when pressed, a person may struggle to pin down specifically what it is they mean. Realizing this, Socrates often went out and attempted to fix these kinds of problems and find out what people actually knew, compared to what they just thought they knew. In the dialogues Euthyphro and Meno, Socrates attempts to pin down definitions for piety and virtue, respectively. In doing so, we are shown that the thinkers in question struggle to define these terms, and attempt to do so in vague terms that may vary heavily under different circumstances. What Socrates is attempting to find is one definitive definition of piety and virtue, what is called his One Form Requirement. Rather than defining something by classifying different parts that make it up, Socrates maintains the belief that piety and virtue both can be simplified into one specific form that describes exactly what makes all F actions F.
You are in an argument with your friend, would you rather be the one who is winning or the one who actually takes something away from the argument? This was the case for Protagoras and Socrates throughout the text Protagoras. Protagoras represented sophists, while Socrates represented philosophers. A sophist is a teacher of virtue, they twist what is being said to make it positive. They make others into skillful speakers. Philosophers are those who want to know what is true and want to be wise. Both had different points within the argument which is what made them different. While Protagoras wants to win the argument, Socrates wants to learn something from it, that is what exactly virtue is. There is a clear difference between philosophers and sophists, and I think it is better to be a philosophist.
Keeping true to Socratic/Platonic methodology, questions are raised in the Euthyphro by conversation; specifically “What is holiness?” After some useless deliberation, the discussion between Socrates and Euthyphro ends inconclusively. Euthyphro varying definitions of piety include “What I do is pious to the gods,” and, “What is pleasing to the gods is pious.” Socrates proves these definitions to be insufficient, which leads us to the Apology.
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
As the debate went on Socrates began to question and ask Euthyphro for his definition of piety to better help understand his reasoning. Euthyphro proceeded to answer Socrates with three separate definitions...