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¶ … piety in Plato's Euthyphro
Euthyphro is a young man who is turning in his own father for committing the murder of a slave. Euthyphro first responds to Socrates that piety is defined as 'what he [Euthyphro] is doing in a tautological fashion (Ross 2012). Eventually, when pressed, Euthyphro creates his real first definition, stating that piety is what is pleasing to the gods. However, Socrates points out that what is pleasing to the gods is very ambiguous. The Greek gods often contradict themselves in terms of the values that they celebrate and according to mythology are constantly at war with one another. "Prosecuting his father may have been pleasing to Zeus, who overthrew and imprisoned his father, but not pleasing to Ouranos or Kronos, who were both victims of their sons. Euthyphro's actions would thus be hated by the older gods, even if loved by Zeus" (Ross 2012). And Socrates also expresses skepticism that such tales can be taken on their face value. Euthyphro responds that piety is what all of the gods approve of, which is to punish injustice.
The central question of the dialogue is: "Is piety caused by the loving...
Euthyphro at first suggests that loving the gods causes pious actions. But Socrates demonstrates that this is not the case. The gods, after all, may demand certain arbitrary things that do not, on their surface, seem pious. One good example of this is demanding burnt offerings as sacrifices in proof of their greatness. There is nothing particularly moral about killing an animal, but in the Greek tradition, the gods demand it. Even in our own tradition, it could be countered that the demand by God to obey certain ritual commands, such as keeping kosher or observing the Sabbath by resting are not innately good, but rather have taken on the veneer of goodness because they are said to be blessed by the divine.
The opposite of what is initially suggested by Euthyphro is that the gods love what is pious because these things are good, versus demanding certain actions which are then labeled pious. This changes the emphasis of religion from ritual actions such as sacrifice to ethical actions. However, monotheistic religions consider such an assertion…
Works Cited
Ross, Kelly. "Comments on the Euthyphro." The Proceedings of the Friesian School. 2012.
http://www.friesian.com/euthyph.htm#four
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