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Notes on Plato's *Euthyphro* Dialogue

Plato and the Search for Ideals: The Euthyphro Dialogue

Plato's Philosophical Foundations

  • Plato, particularly in his later, mature writings, is deeply interested in ideals and perfect forms of things. This search for perfect ideals can be seen as foreshadowed by Socrates' relentless pursuit of precise definitions.
  • The approach to knowledge acquisition for Plato is central to defining concepts precisely. This process of definition is key to understanding the essence of a thing—"what makes it what it is."

The Trial and Death of Socrates

  • The dialogues of Plato, including The Apology and Euthyphro, specifically cover the subject of Socrates' trial and death.
  • Standard Numbering System: Plato's works utilize a standard numbering system (e.g., margin numbers with a superscript letter) for scholarly reference.
  • Socrates' court dates are set, and his trial is impending.
  • Charges Against Socrates: He is accused of two main crimes:
    1. Corrupting the youth.
    2. Not believing in the gods of the city.
  • The charge of "not believing in the gods of the city" is almost identical to being charged with impiety (improper reverence of the gods or improper moral beliefs).

The Euthyphro Dialogue: Context and Purpose

  • Timeliness: Socrates encounters Euthyphro just before his own trial for impiety.
  • Euthyphro's Claim: Euthyphro claims to be highly knowledgeable about piety, so much so that he is prosecuting his own father for an impious act.
  • Socrates' Motivation: Socrates hopes to learn from Euthyphro a definition of piety that can help him understand and address the charges against him.
  • Central Concept: The dialogue's core purpose is to define piety (also translatable as holiness or morality).

Euthyphro's Prosecution of His Father

  • The Circumstances:
    • Euthyphro and his family are farmers living outside Athens.
    • One of their workers, while drunk, killed another worker with a knife.
    • Euthyphro's father (the head of the farm) tied up the killer, threw him in a ditch, and sent a messenger to Athens to inquire about what to do.
    • While awaiting a response, the tied-up killer died in the ditch.
  • The Charge: Euthyphro is charging his father with murder for the death of the killer in the ditch.
  • Socrates' Reaction: Socrates is curious why Euthyphro is so confident in prosecuting his father under these particular, ambiguous circumstances (where the father might be considered negligent, but not necessarily a murderer).
  • Euthyphro's Justification: Euthyphro points to the mythological precedent of Zeus prosecuting his father, Kronos, for killing his children. This provides a traditional justification for his actions, highlighting a son prosecuting a father for a perceived wrong.
    • Socrates notes that such certainty often raises his suspicions, especially when the case (like Euthyphro's) seems strained or far-fetched.

The Socratic (Dialectic) Method: Question and Answer

  • Socrates uses a dialectic method of question and answer to seek precise knowledge and definitions.
  • Aim: To define a key, fundamental idea (e.g., piety).
  • Process: Socrates asks for attempted definitions, then critically scrutinizes (questions) them to see if they withstand criticism.
    • If a definition holds, it constitutes knowledge.
    • If it fails, it's not the true definition, and the search continues.
  • Constraint: A definition cannot be contradictory (e.g., something cannot be both pious and impious simultaneously).
  • Socrates' Persistence: Socrates is unwilling to give up the chase for a true, definitive answer, even claiming at his trial not to have definitive knowledge himself. He persists while Euthyphro eventually gives up out of frustration.
  • Goal: To find an ultimate, true, once-and-for-all definition that captures the essence of a concept, especially for important ethical ideas like piety.

Attempts to Define Piety

1. First Attempt: Piety is what I am doing now.

  • Euthyphro's Definition: "Piety is doing what I'm doing now, prosecuting my father for murder."
  • Socrates' Critique:
    • An example is not a definition. A definition must capture the essence of the concept, not just one particular instance.
    • Analogy of the Chair: Pointing to one chair doesn't define "chair." A definition must encompass all types of chairs (lazy boys, bar stools, etc.) and explain what makes them all "chairs."
    • Relevance to Socrates: Socrates needs a universal understanding of piety to apply to his own case, not just Euthyphro's specific action.

2. Second Attempt: Piety is that which is dear to the gods, and impiety is that which is not dear to them.

  • Euthyphro's Revised Definition: Piety is what the gods love, and impiety is what they hate.
  • Socrates' Critique (The Problem of Polytheism):
    • The Greek religion is polytheistic (multiple gods).
    • The gods often disagree (e.g., in the Trojan War, some gods sided with the Greeks, others with the Trojans).
    • Therefore, something (like a Greek victory) could be dear to some gods and hated by others. This would make it both pious and impious simultaneously, violating the principle of non-contradiction.

3. Third Attempt: Piety is what all the gods agree on/love.

  • Euthyphro's Further Revision: Piety is that which is loved by all the gods, and impiety is that which is hated by all the gods.
  • Significance: This revision effectively means that if all gods agree, they speak with one voice, making the definition potentially applicable even to monotheistic religions.
    • This reflects early philosophical movements (e.g., Presocratic philosophers) towards monism or thinking in terms of a single explanatory principle.
  • Socrates' Accusers' Motives: The prosecution might not be genuinely religious but driven by social climbing or using Socrates as a scapegoat.
  • Underlying Philosophical Question: This definition raises the fundamental question of the source of moral authority: is it divine command or human reason?
    • The dialectic method itself is an attempt to capture truth through reason.

The Euthyphro Dilemma

  • Definition of a Dilemma: A problem where two possible responses exist, but neither is entirely satisfactory. Both paths lead to difficulties or require one to "bite the bullet."
  • The Dilemma Question: "Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?"

Horn 1: The pious is loved by the gods because it is pious.

  • Interpretation: Something is morally right independently of whether God commands or loves it. God commands or loves it because it is inherently good.
  • Implications:
    • There is an independent standard of morality that exists outside of God's commands.
    • God is not the ultimate source or origin of morality; rather, God appeals to or recognizes an existing moral standard.
    • This suggests that morality is discoverable through reason, as it exists beyond divine decree.

Horn 2: The pious is pious because it is loved by the gods.

  • Interpretation: Something is morally right simply because God commands or loves it.
  • Implications (Divine Command Theory):
    • God (or the gods) is the ultimate and only source of morality.
    • Whatever God commands is morally right; whatever God prohibits is morally wrong, without any further explanation or reason beyond the command itself.
    • This leads to arbitrariness: God could command anything (e.g., "thou shalt kill"), and it would instantly become morally right.
    • It promotes dogma: One cannot ask "why" something is wrong; the only answer is "God said so." This requires belief without questioning.
  • Practical Impact: Euthyphro's deep conviction concerning his father's guilt, rooted in divine command, clashes with Socrates' relentless rational inquiry.

The Unresolved Conclusion

  • The dialogue does not reach a definitive resolution to the Euthyphro Dilemma or a final, universally accepted definition of piety.
  • Euthyphro ultimately gives up, citing other obligations, while Socrates remains persistent in his quest for knowledge. This highlights Socrates' commitment to persistent inquiry and his famous claim of knowing nothing definitively.