EUTHYPHRO IBD

Sinopse

Euthyphro byáPlato, is aáSocratic dialogueáwhose events occur in the weeks before theátrial of Socratesá(399 BC), betweenáSocratesáandáEuthyphro.áThe dialogue covers subjects such as the meaning ofápietyáand justice. As is common with PlatoâÇÖs earliest dialogues, it ends ináaporia.In this dialogue, Socrates meets Euthyphro at the porch of theáarchon basileusá(the âÇÖking magistrateâÇÖ) at that time. Socrates tells him that he is preparing to go to court against the charges ofáMeletusáon the grounds ofáimpiety. Euthyphro tells Socrates that he is going to court himself to prosecute his father for binding a worker in chains and leaving him to die. This has granted him the ire of his own family who believe his father was in the right. The worker had killed a fellow worker, which they believe exempts his father from liability for leaving him bound in the ditch to starve to death. Since Euthyphro seems assured of himself, Socrates asks him to define piety. His help will clarify SocratesâÇÖ case in the courtroom. If Socrates is asked to define piety, he can simply rely on EuthyphroâÇÖs definition. This however leads to the mainádilemma of the dialogueáwhen the two cannot come to a satisfactory conclusion. Is something pious because the gods approve of it or do the gods approve of it because it is pious? Thisáaporicáending has led to one of the longest theological andámeta-ethicaládebates in history.The dialogue ináEuthyphroáoccurs nearáthe courtáof theáarchon basileusá(king magistrate), where Socrates and Euthyphro encounter each other, each man is present at the court for the preliminary hearings to possible trials.Euthyphro has come to present charges ofámurderáagainst his own father who, after arresting one of his workers (Thetes) for killing a slave from the family estate onáNaxos Island, tied him and threw him in a ditch where he died of exposure to the elements (3e-4d) while EuthyphroâÇÖs father waited to hear from theáexegetesá(cf.áLawsá759d) about how to proceed. Socrates is astonished by EuthyphroâÇÖs confidence in being able to prosecute his own father for the serious charge of manslaughter, despite the fact that Athenian Law allows only relatives of the dead man to fileásuitáfor murder (Dem. 43 º57). Euthyphro dismisses the astonishment of Socrates, which confirms his overconfidence in his own critical judgment of religious and ethical matters