Topic > Euthyphro Analysis Essay

EuthyphroPlato introduces Socrates and Euthyphro, who is apparently "a professional priest who considers himself an expert in ritual and piety" (2). Although Socrates acts as if he accepts that Euthyphro has knowledge of the divine, as everyone else seems to do, he challenges his knowledge by asking him about piety. The two are in the court of the king-archon, waiting to be tried for different things. Socrates has been indicted for being “a maker of gods and… [creating] new gods while not believing in the old gods” (3), while Euthyphro is prosecuting his father for murder. The two topics become intertwined when Socrates discovers that Euthyphro is pressing charges against his father because he believes it would be impious not to do so just because of their relationship. Since Euthyphro claims to have authority over what is pious and what is not, Socrates presses him for clarification on the matter regarding the gods and in doing so shows his doubt in the very gods for which he was indicted. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Socrates never comes out and says he doesn't believe in the gods or what Euthyphro says, instead he questions everything as if he believes it the other man can actually help him reach some sort of understanding on the matter and in the end finds itself empty. Euthyphro's idea of ​​pious things is that of things loved by the gods, which Socrates refutes by pointing out that different gods love and hate different things, so "what is loved by the gods is also hated by them" (9). Their discussion continues in similar fashion throughout, and they seem to make progress until Euthyphro's final reasoning, that the pious is "of all things dearest [to the gods]", brings them back to his initial definition that Socrates found fault with So the cycle begins again and the question of what makes something godly or unholy is left unanswered. By failing to demonstrate what is pious and what is impious in relation to the gods, Euthyphro inadvertently shows Socrates that he is right to be skeptical of the gods and those who blindly follow them. Works Cited Allen, R. E. (2006). Plato's Euthyphro and the previous theory of forms. The Classical Quarterly, 56(2), 327-337.Brickhouse, T. C., & Smith, N. D. (1989). Plato's Socratic Dialogues: The Euthyphro, the Apology, Crito, Phaedo. Hackett Publishing.Fine, G. (1999). Knowledge and Logos in Theaetetus. In Plato: Theaetetus and Sophist (pp. 9-65). Oxford University Press.Gill, C. (1985). Plato's Euthyphro: analysis and commentary. E. J. Brill. Irwin, T. H. (2010). Plato's ethics. Oxford University Press.Nehamas, A. (2002). Plato: the collection of dialogues. Princeton University Press.Reeve, CDC (1993). Practices of reason: Aristotle's Nicomachean ethics. Oxford University Press.Saxonhouse, A. W. (1986). Eros and the Sage: The Stoic Response to a Cultural Dilemma. In fear of diversity: the birth of political science in ancient Greek thought (pp. 11-31). University of Chicago Press. Sedley, D. N. (2007). Plato's Cratylus. Cambridge University Press.Taylor, C.C.W. (1993). Socratic studies. Cambridge University Press.