Euthyphro
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Euthyphro (; ), is a philosophical work by Plato written in the form of a Socratic dialogue set during the weeks before the trial of Socrates in 399 BC. In the dialogue, Socrates and Euthyphro attempt to establish a definition of piety. This however leads to the main dilemma of the dialogue when 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? This aporetic ending has led to one of the longest theological and meta-ethical debates in history.
Key facts
- Medieval text.name
- Euthyphro
- Medieval text.alternative title(s)
- Εὐθύφρων
- Medieval text.image
- Euthyphro Stephanus 1578 p 2.jpg
- Medieval text.caption
- Henri Estienne's 1578 edition of Euthyphro, parallel Latin and Greek text.
- Medieval text.also known as
- On Holiness
- Medieval text.author(s)
- Plato
- Medieval text.compiled by
- Thrasyllus of Mendes
- Medieval text.language
- Attic Greek
- Medieval text.date
- 4th century BC
- Medieval text.provenance
- Byzantine empire
- Medieval text.series
- Dialogues of Plato
- Medieval text.manuscript(s)
- List
- Medieval text.principal manuscript(s)
- Codex Oxoniensis Clarkianus 39 (Oxford, Bodleian Library)
- Medieval text.first printed edition
- 1513 by Aldus Manutius
- Medieval text.genre
- Socratic dialogue
- Medieval text.subject
- Piety, Euthyphro dilemma
- Medieval text.setting
- Stoa Basileios, Ancient Athens
- Medieval text.personages
- Socrates, Euthyphro
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Euthyphro Stephanus 1578 p 2.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- title
- Εὐθύφρων
- publication date
- 0400-00-00
- entry in abbreviations table
- Plat. Euthyph.
- Commons category
- Euthyphro
Sources (6)
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Characters
- Background
- Summary
- Prologue
- First definition: piety is prosecuting a wrongdoer
- Second definition: piety is what is pleasing to the gods
- Third definition: piety is what is pleasing to all the gods
- Fourth definition: piety is a part of justice
- Final definition: piety is knowledge of sacrifice and prayer
- Reception
- Ancient
- Medieval and Renaissance
- Modern
- Texts and translations
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Euthyphro (; ), is a philosophical work by Plato written in the form of a Socratic dialogue set during the weeks before the trial of Socrates in 399 BC. In the dialogue, Socrates and Euthyphro attempt to establish a definition of piety. This however leads to the main dilemma of the dialogue when 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? This aporetic ending has led to one of the longest theological and meta-ethical debates in history.
== Characters == Socrates, the Athenian philosopher, currently waiting at the Porch of the King Archon to attend a preliminary hearing for his trial for impiety. He questions the nature of piety in this dialogue. Euthyphro of Prospalta, a prophet, in his mid-forties. He is at the court to prosecute his elderly father for the murder of a hireling. His father owned land on the island of Naxos, which they farmed together. He is also mentioned in the Cratylus, which takes place about twenty years earlier, as an expert in the names of the gods.