Euthyphro

“Euthyphro” is a short philosophical work by Plato written in the form of a dialogue between Plato’s teacher, Socrates, and a devotedly religious man named Euthyphro. The purpose of the work is to examine and define the meaning of piety or holiness. “Euthyphro” takes place in the weeks before Socrates’s famous trial, which ended in his forced suicide by drinking hemlock. Socrates was put on trial for the charge of corrupting the youth of Athens by encouraging skepticism toward traditional beliefs about the gods.

Socrates and Euthyphro meet by chance at the law court where they are awaiting preliminary hearings for their respective trials. Socrates is amazed to hear that Euthyphro is preparing to prosecute his own father for homicide. Euthyphro is confident that in carrying out this punishment he is pleasing the gods and fulfilling the moral law, but Socrates induces him to consider the matter more carefully. He repeatedly asks Euthyphro to define piety, but with each successive definition, Socrates finds a flaw and asks him to define it again. Euthyphro is unable to correct his faulty reasoning, and in the end, he excuses himself and walks away instead of providing a definition that sticks. The dialogue is rich in Socratic irony: Socrates pretends to know nothing on order to elicit knowledge from his conversation partner, but we find out in the end that it is Socrates who is the wiser of the two.

The dialogue could be seen as a confrontation between two different religious and ethical viewpoints. Euthyphro takes a strict and unbending view of divine law, while Socrates has been charged with discrediting stories of the gods or expressing doubt that they are true. Socrates reminds Euthyphro that the gods themselves disagree about what is holy and that, using rational inquiry, we must go beyond specific examples of piety to arrive at the underlying principle behind it.

“Euthyphro” is often grouped together with Plato’s Apology, “Crito,” and “Phaedo.” Collectively, these four dialogues recount what happened to Socrates during his last days, from his trial to his death. As the first work in the group, “Euthyphro” serves to introduce the theme of piety that will play a crucial role in Socrates’s trial. The fact that the dialogue remains inconclusive on its central question (what is piety?) is ironic in light of Socrates’s fate: How can a person be tried and executed for committing a crime with no definition? Since Socrates was well respected by Plato, we can understand that the dialogue serves to exonerate his teacher from the charges that led to his death.