Platos Early Dialogues Essays - Socratic Dialogues,

Plato's Early Dialogues EUTHYPHRO Persons of the Dialogue: Socrates and Euthyphro Scene: The Porch of the King Archon SUMMARY As the dialogue begins, Socrates is on his way to court to face the charges brought on him. Euthyphro is on his way to the court to prosecute his father for murder. Socrates is very surprised at Euthyphro's charge against his father and asks him if he is sure that what he is doing is pious or holy. He asks Euthyphro to tell him about the nature of piety and impiety. Euthyphro will not define piety or impiety, but instead says ?Piety is doing as I am doing, and compares it with the actions of the god Zeus when he punished his own father. Socrates asks for a definition and not an example, to which Euthyphro offers that ?Piety is that which is dear to the gods. Socrates accepts this definition, but forces Euthyphro to admit that the gods differ, just like human beings, about what they love and hate. By this definition, the same act may be called both pious and impious, therefore this definition leads to contradiction. Euthyphro offers a third definition and claims: ?What all the gods love is pious. Socrates then asks whether an act is loved by the gods because it is pious, or and act is pious because it is loved by the gods. Euthyphro responds that the gods love an act because it is pious. By this, Socrates concludes that Euthyphro's definition is only a characteristic of piety, not its definition. At this point, Euthyphro says that he does not know how to express what he means and accuses Socrates of setting arguments in motion. Socrates is not satisfied and accuses Euthyphro of being lazy, and forces the argument further by asking whether piety is a part of justice, or justice a part of piety. Here, Euthyphro offers yet another definition: ?Piety...is that part of justice which attends to the gods. Now Socrates wants an explanation of ?attention, and asks if the gods benefit from this ?attention, to which Euthyphro responds that the attention is like ministration to the gods. Socrates then points out that ministration usually means assisting someone in his work, and asks what ministration to the gods helps them to do. Euthyphro responds that the discussion has become tiresome, and issues his fifth definition: ?Piety...is learning how to please the gods by prayers and sacrifices. Socrates asks if piety is an art which gods and human beings have of doing business with one another, and what benefits do the gods receive from the offerings of individuals. Euthyphro answers that they get ?tributes of honour?; they are pleased, not benefited. Socrates tells him that by saying that the gods are pleased, they have returned to an earlier definition. Frustrated and annoyed, Euthyphro tells Socrates that he is in a hurry to depart and ends the discussion. ANALYSIS This dialogue explores the meaning of Piety. As the dialogue starts, Socrates is on his way to court to defend himself against accusations of impious behavior; Euthyphro is prosecuting his own father based on his own understanding in the matter of piety. As the dialogue develops, Euthyphro seems to take on the role of Meletus, Socrates' accuser. He claims to have perfect understanding in the matter of piety, so Socrates requests his help to answer Meletus charges against him. He asks Euthyphro to instruct him about the nature of piety. In his first definition, Euthyphro states that he is justified on bringing charges against his father because Zeus has done the same, and therefore there is divine justification. Later, Euthyphro offers other definitions about the nature of piety, and in all of them he implies that his knowledge in the subject is indeed superior to the majority. If this is the case, then only Euthyphro is the judge as to whether an action should or should not be performed. He starts by justifying his actions through divine understanding, but Socrates is not satisfied. He then tries to make his actions right, but, again, Socrates leads him into contractions. Finally, he tries to turn his actions into a duty. Through the dialogue, Euthyphro tries to use the gods to justify his actions and interests, which is exactly the same charge that will later send Socrates to his death. When asked about the relationship between the gods and human beings, Euthyphro tells us that our duty is to please the gods and, through our actions, to honor and glorify them. If this is true, then we