Week 8: Taking a Step Back
We hope that review of this brief dialogue will have given you insight into Socrates and Plato and that it has stimulated ideas and questions beyond the four corners of the dialogue. Here are some suggestions for wrap-up discussion of the Euthyphro and beyond. Feel free to bring your own questions to the table as well.
Wrap-up
- How does Plato’s writing style affect the content of the dialogue?
- Does the Euthyphro tell us anything new about Greek history?
- Are the charges of impiety against Socrates well or ill founded?
- Is Euthyphro pious?
- What definition of piety would satisfy Socrates?
Going beyond the dialogue
- Is piety (in any sense) a virtue?
- Is there an underlying principle governing Platonic ethics?
- Can the virtues be discovered by rational reflection?
- Should Socrates be revered? Why?
If you’re reading along in Greek, cover 15a5-16a4.
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