Euthyphro's Argument Analysis

Words: 413
Pages: 2

This piece starts out immediately discussing ethics. At the beginning the conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro talk of a man names Meletus charging Socrates for corrupting his young friends. Socrates mentions that Meletus is a wise man and that he's doing the right thing for trying to make sure the youth are not being corrupted by unwise men. He says that Meletus is justified in his accusations saying his ethics are in line with how they should be. Euthyphro is questioning in the intents of Meletus thinking he's charging him for the wrong reasons, he says he is very smart and that Socrates should listen to him. The conversation then changes to why Euthyphro is at the court house, he responds saying he's prosecuting his father for murder. …show more content…
He says he knows his family is mad on behalf of the prosecution but his ethics are forcing him to continue with the trial. Socrates suggests that Euthyphro should teach him on religious matters so that he could help Socrates in court. Euthyphro agrees and they start discussing what is holy and what is not. Euthyphro basically just presents all of his ethical beliefs and applies them to what is holy. He says the thing that makes holiness is the prosecution of those who commit injustices. Socrates asks for a more generalized definition of the term and he responds saying that its whatever is agreeable to the god is holy. Socrates disagrees with this saying that the gods do unholy acts like fighting. He points out that the gods have different beliefs and that they fight over what is right and wrong or what is holy. This is basically saying that everyone has different beliefs and everyone's ethics are different. The entire discussion of what is holy is basically just the realization that everyone has different definitions of what Is right and wrong. Ethics vary greatly from person to person and by culture to