Socrates_vs_Euthyphro

Socrates and Euthyphro Analysis Socrates was a philosopher who challenged the way common knowledge was accepted and tried to develop a thought process that could explain what truth is. In Socrates’ conversation with Euthyphro, he uses what is known as Socratic irony to teach Euthyphro what he really knows to be true about holiness. Euthyphro discovers that he does not know as much as he claims to know and Socrates may have changed Euthyphro’s opinion on how knowledgeable he really is on the matter of holiness. Socrates uses Socratic irony to stimulate critical thinking in Euthyphro. Socrates asks Euthyphro what the definition of holiness is and eventually Euthyphro responds with “It is what is loved by the Gods.” Socrates then asks him again to make sure that he is certain of the definition he has claimed to be true but Socrates also adds that unholy is the opposite of holy, and Euthyphro agrees. Then Socrates says that not all Gods love the same things, and that what Zeus may love, Cronos may hate, and by Euthyphro prosecuting his father, he may be doing something that would be considered unholy by his own definition of what holiness is. By allowing Euthyphro to use his own definition and see the fault in his own definition, Socrates has challenged Euthyphro’s knowledge and forced him to think about if he truly knows what holiness is. Socrates has in a way stripped down the lies of Euthyphro to nothing so that Euthyphro can see what his knowledge really is. Socrates uses Socratic irony to show Euthyphro his own ignorance, but does not directly say that he is ignorant. In the beginning of the conversation, Euthyphro states that, “My most values possession, Socrates, is the exact knowledge I have of these matters.” He is essentially saying that he is a master of the knowledge of holiness and that above all things, he knows what holiness is. Then once Socrates establishes that prosecuting Euthyphro’s father could be an unholy act based on Euthyphro’s definition of what holiness is, Euthyphro says he could show Socrates how he knows it is a holy act, but it would take some time. Socrates says, “Euthyphro, I will not insist on it. I will assume, if you like, that all Gods agree on this act.” Socrates knows that Euthyphro could not possibly know how the Gods could all agree on this act, but he does not tell him directly that he doesn’t know, because if he did, Euthyphro would be insulted and all the time Socrates spent trying to show Euthyphro that he really does not know what he is talking about would have gone to waste, because Euthyphro would begin to dislike Socrates and stop listening to him. Another example of Socrates showing Euthyphro of his own ignorance arises when Socrates has deduced that to be loved by the gods cannot be the same thing as to be holy, and to be holy is not the same thing as to be loved by the gods. Euthyphro states that he knows in his mind the right answer, but he cannot explain how he knows to Socrates. Socrates then says, “Then I will help you instruct me.” Socrates has basically said here that Euthyphro has no clue what he is talking about and that he will help him make sense of his Euthyphro’s own thoughts so that Euthyphro will be able to ‘help’ Socrates. Socrates uses Socratic irony to show Euthyphro of his own wisdom, but does not force Euthyphro to accept the fact that Socrates is wise. At the end of the conversation, Euthyphro says, “I would say that holiness, above all, is doing what is loved by the Gods.” Socrates had already established that this could not be possible and Euthyphro agreed to that notion, and yet Euthyphro’s logic has brought him back to that very same idea, which was agreed to be incorrect. Socrates reminds Euthyphro that they agreed that this was impossible and so Socrates says, “Then either we were wrong in that admission or we are wrong now.” Euthyphro at this point feels like he has no idea what he could possibly say to show that he does in fact know what holiness is, so when Socrates asks Euthyphro to start again and to explain holiness to him, Euthyphro says, “Perhaps some other time, Socrates. Right now I am in a hurry to be off somewhere.” Euthyphro sees Socrates wisdom but Socrates does not force Euthypho to admit to his wisdom, he allows him to go on with the dignity he has left. Socrates believed that uncovering the deceit that protects us will make us the happiest; because that is the only way we can find truth, something permanent. The truth can only be found in something that is eternal, and deceit is not something that is eternal, because it is an illusion we use to avoid what troubles us. So deceit prevents us from arriving to permanent solutions to problems we have, and so prevents us from arriving to the truth, that which is permanent and unchanging. If we are prevented from arriving at the truth, then we are deprived of happiness, because the most beautiful are things that have the greatest amount of beauty for the longest period of time. Beauty is the arrangement of how well things are put together, structured, organized, etc. the more beautiful something is then, the better proportioned it is. Good determines how well something is proportioned. And in the desire for happiness, we desire the goodness that makes us happy. If the truth is the only thing that is eternal, then it is the only thing that is the most beautiful, and therefore the thing that is the most good and therefore provides the greatest amount of happiness. So if Socrates did not question Euthyphro about holiness, then eh would never know if it was truth and ultimately lead Socrates to happiness. He had to uncover the deceit to try and discover truth.