The Concept of Piety/holiness

Holiness Emerges

In his trial, he is in distress for not believing in the Greek gods and believing in other ones; this story plays out in the dialogue called, The Apology (Mosser, 2010). He meets Euthyphro who is a prophet. This is significant if you think about what prophets do. After a short discussion it turns out that Euthyphro is about to put on trial his own father for murder. One could remark, a family slave has killed another slave. In reading this paper you will conclude Socrates and Euthyphro discussions on the concept of piety/holiness along with my personal views.

Euthyphro verses Socrates

Ironically, Socrates is treating Euthyphro as the teacher when in fact Socrates is teaching Euthyphro. It is necessary to set this format in place to inspire Euthyphro to analyze then present his own arguments, and therefore lead him to see their faults for himself. The conversation ends questionable possibly in order to entice the reader to think independently and struggle to prepare a suffice definition without Plato's help.

There is an indication that Euthyphro is not thinking along the right lines at all. The definition that Euthyphro holds connects what is holy with what is approved of by the gods. Socrates' clever argument shows that this definition is lacking: though what is holy may be approved of by the gods, the two cannot be the same thing. If the gods approve of something because it is holy, then their approval cannot be what makes it holy. Another perspective would be, if it is holy because the gods approve of it, then we still don't know for what reason the gods approve of it. It seems that any attempt to ground our definition of holiness in the will or approval of the gods is bound to fail. We might normally associate holiness with some sort of divine will, but Plato seems to be suggesting that we should think along another line altogether (Plato & Jowett, 2008).

Socrates and Euthyphro meet by the Porch of the King Archon, one of the judges responsible for overseeing religious law. Euthyphro, surprised to see Socrates, asks what brings him here. Socrates answers that he is being prosecuted by Meletus, a young unknown with straight hair, a beard, and a beak nose (Plato & Jowett, 2008). Meletus believes Socrates is corrupting the youth of Athens, and wants to prosecute him. Socrates comments, what a promising start this Meletus is making getting rid of the corruptors of the city's youth. Socrates himself believes that the excellence of the youth should be of utmost concern. Meletus has also accused Socrates of inventing new gods and not recognizing those that exist.

Euthyphro comments that this allegation is probably connected to the godly sign that Socrates claims to be visited by on occasion. Euthyphro, too, is often disbelieved when he speaks about godly matters or predicts the future. He reassures Socrates that one must simply bear these prejudices, and declares his confidence that Socrates will come out fine in the end.

Socrates inquires as to why Euthyphro has come to court, and Euthyphro answers that he is prosecuting his father for murder, which was considered a religious crime by the Greeks. Socrates is shocked that Euthyphro should want to prosecute his own father, commenting that Euthyphro must have complex knowledge of these sorts of matters to be making such a bold move. Socrates proposes his father must have killed another family member: confidently, Euthyphro would not go to such pains on behalf of an outsider.

Euthyphro acknowledges that he is indeed an