SOCRATIC DIALOG

Socratic Dialog

Socratic Dialog

Socrates meets Euthyphro outside the courthouse in Athens. Euthyphro, a very religious young man, has come to the court because he is going to prosecute his father for the murder of one of his father's servants. The case is ambiguous, perhaps more manslaughter than murder. But it is also highly unusual to also violate kinship norms by such a pursuit.

So Socrates asks Euthyphro whether he is confident that what he's doing is the right thing. Euthyphro replies, a bit haughtily, that ordinary people don't really understand the divine attitude to piety and impiety, whereas, he does know ...