Is 'piety' Well Defined in Plato's Euthyphro?

Yusufov Komil   22.02.1016                  Is 'piety' well defined in Plato's Euthyphro?

A pious person is one who follows the rules and duties of a specific religion. It does not matter if the deeds he does of piety are right or wrong. Being pious is considered to be the right thing because that is what the religion commands to obey. Piety doesn’t harmonize with morality; it follows the rules of the religion. In Plato’s Euthyphro there is a clear example of being pious, not doing the right thing because it is morally correct but because the gods have commanded it.

The dialogue is between Socrates and Euthyphro when they both meet beside the court. They start talking matters when Socrates asks why is Euthyphro in the court. Euthyphro answer him by telling that he is prosecuting his own father of murder. Here it is quite strange, Euthyphro brings a person to a place where strangers prosecute each other but Euthyphro brings his own blood to court. Here you can see in his religion that has the power and authority to judge. Euthyphro doesn’t settle the argument amongst his members; he shuts his eyes to the father and sees only the crime. This is a good example of being pious. “for, they say, it is impious for a divine attitude to piety and impiety are wrong, Socrates” Euthyphro’s family members are mad at him for prosecuting his own father. When they get mad at Euthyphro they are also being pious because from a view of another god, keeping the secret from the authorities from the crimes the father has commited, will be considered pious because you are helping your father. But Euthyphro’s views are more towards the governments rules, to prosecute a criminal. Socrates asks if his knowledge of piety and impiety is so great that he brings his own father to trail. “ Whereas, by Zeus, Euthyphro you think that your knowledge of the divine, and of piety and impiety is so accurate that, when those things happened as you say, you have no fear of having acted impious bringing your father to trail” Here Socrates means good and bad when he says piety and impiety not exactly being religious or non-religious. “…my admirable Euthyphro that I should become your pupil…”  Socrates is putting Euthyphro responsible for his learning of piety. When Socrates is going to be trailed his going to say that he is the pupil of Euthyphro, if the jury prosecute him because of what Euthyphro has taught Socrates, then they will be prosecuting their own law because Euthyphro is of there law. There is a straightforward question to Euthyphro. Socrates asks what being pious exactly means to him, and Euthyphro gives an example of himself how he is prosecuting the wrong doer. Socrates then brings good examples of the god Zeus who bound’s his own father for eating his own children. Euthyphro is doing the exact thing with his father, Socrates then strats to bring an example of what piousness means to the other gods and if they do have wars amongst themselves which they can not settle with a curtain law they all have there own views about things and each one pushes his own opinion. “…and it appears that what is loved by the gods is also hated by them…” Here Socrates point is one thing can have different views of the gods whether it is pious or impious. What is Euthyphro is doing is considered pious because he is doing a deed which is please able to the other gods.to another god this deed is pleasing because it shows the sign of fairness and not because of the relationship.