Euthyphro, Socrates and Euthyphro

Euthyphro, Socrates and Euthyphro

PHI208

Hai Nguyen

February 10, 2014.

In the Euthyphro, Socrates and Euthyphro he discuss the concept of piety/holiness (Mosser, 2010). I will discuss how the concept of holiness emerges in the dialogue and why it takes a prominent position in the conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro (Mosser, 2010). Also I will give the three definitions that Euthyphro uses in his response to Socrates, and then present Socrates’s refutation of each of Euthyphro’s definitions (Mosser, 2010). Then I will Develop my own argument as to what I think Socrates’s goal is in this dialogue and how I know it is his goal, and what features of the dialogue align with my interpretation of his goal (Mosser, 2010). Lastly I will provide my own definition of piety/holiness and then create a Socratic response/critique of my definition (Mosser, 2010). After I present my definition, I will take on the role of Socrates and respond to my own definition as I think he would.

The concept of holiness emerges in the dialogue and why it takes a prominent position in the conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro (Mosser, 2010) is essentially, the question at hand is whether something is considered holy because it is loved by the gods or if that which spoken of is loved by the gods because it in itself is holy (Wikipedia). Since he meets a religious mystic, which is how Euthyphro is described [he has made true prophecies which were "laughed at", at first, but when they came true, then he was resented more than admired; but Socrates recognizes him as a pious mystic], just outside the King Archon's Court, Euthyphro is someone whom Socrates may call on as an "expert" re. Piety vs. impiety (Gutenberg). The initial problem created is what is to be identified as holy. The gods willing something as holy would provide certain implications of what is expected of those who choose to worship. In other words, regardless of what a certain belief might entail, the people...