Euthyphro
. The argument in Euthyphro sounds in line 5 section 7 as follows: «what is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious.» . Euthyphro consists of a dialogue between Socrates and EuthyphroEuthyphro argues that the pious was what he was doing then, to prosecute the wrongdoer. Socrates has opposite position and supposes that what is loved by the gods is also hated by them.
Socrates is arguing against prosecuting Euthyphro’s father for murder. Socrates concludes that people recognize that the pious is loved because it is pious, not pious because it is loved. On the other hand, people recognize, that the charity is such because it is loved by the gods, but it is loved not because it is pleased to God. Resolution can be only one: the gods act like people. Divine also must be unique and versatile, and no contradictions can be there. Thanks to elementary logic, detractors of Socrates think that logic ruins their beliefs. At the same time, their principles appear to be a deceit, evasion of the truth, which has nothing common with the divine. Thus, the usual views on the divine that are inherent to the ancient Greeks, are false.
Premise 1: what are we to say, we who agree that we ourselves have no knowledge of them? (line 15 , b). Premise 2: whether wars and good stories happens as the result of God’s will? (line 21 , b). Premise 3: «An action or a man dear to the gods is pious» (line 11 , b). Conclusion 1 notes that the same things can be loved and hated by the gods at the same time (line 17 , 8). Conclusion 2: the same things can be pious and impious at the same time (line 20 , 8). Final conclusion summarizes that the theory of Euthyphro is wrong (line 17 , 11).1
The arguments work due to strong skills of authors. From the beginning, the story "Euthyphro" is full of dynamism and drama. The father of Euthyphro is a murder who committed a mortal sin that is the major point. The dialogue about wickedness and piety is aimed to answer, whether son can prosecute his father for his sins? Socrates laughs and says that Euthyphro knows a lot about the divine law and piety and impiety, that he immediately wants to become his pupil. But Euthyphro has enough confidence in his wisdom and superiority over other people to judge these matters - even though the dialogue ends without an absolute output, as often happens in the conversations of Socrates.
Bibliography
Plato, and John Burnet. Plato's Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates and Crito. Translated by
G.M.A. Grube, 1924. Web. 02 September 2016.
