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.