EUTHYPHRO SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

Transcription

1 Socrats: SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING Socrats an Plato s Socratic Dialogus 1. Bnson, hugh H.,. Essays on th Philosophy of Socrats, Oxfor, Has xtnsiv l)illograpliy. 2. Nhanias, Alxanr. Th Art of Lii mg, Brkly, Vlastos, Grgory,. Th Philosophy of Socrats: A Collction of Critical Essays, Nw York, Ironist an Moral Philosophr, Ithaca, N.Y., Euthyphro 5. Cohn, S. Marc. Socrats on th Dfinition of Pity: Euthyphro loa 1 i, Journal of th History of Philosophy 9 (1971), rpr. in (3), Gach, Ptr 1. Plato s Euthyphro: An Analysis an Commntary, Th Monist 50 (1966): Ki, Ian. th Cas of Homici in Plato s Euthyphro, in E. N I. Craik,., Owls to Athns, Oxfor, 1990, MacPhrran, Mark. Socratic Pity in th Euthyphro, Journal ofth History of Philosophy 23(1985), rpr. in (1), Mann, William. Pity: Lning Euthvphro a Han, Philosophy an Ph riornnological Rsarch 58 (1998): Taylor, Christophr C. W. Th En of th Euthvphro, Phronsis 27 (l982): Apology 11. Brickhous, l homas C., an Nicholas D. Smith. Socrats on Trial, Ox for, Burnyat, Myls F. l h Impity of Socrats, Ancint Philosophy 17 (1997):l Rv, C. D.C. Socrats in th Apology, Inianapolis, Ston, 1. F. Th Trial of Socrats, Nw York, 1988; with Myls F. Burnyat, Rviw of Th Trial of Socrats, y 1. F. Ston, Nw York Rviw of Books 35 (1988): Crito 15. Bostock, Davi. l hc liitrprtation of Plato s Crito, Phronsis 35 C 1990): Kraut, Richar. Socrats an th Stat, Princton, Woozly, Anthony D. Law an Oinc: Th Argumnts of Plato s Crito, Chapl Hill, Phao: Dath Scn 18. Fry, Rogr G. Di Socrats Commit Suici? Philosophy 53(1978): Gill, Christophr. l h Dath of Socrats, Classical Quartrly 23(1973): EUTHYPHRO Euthyphro is surpris to mt Socrats nar th king-archon s court, for Socrats is not th kin of man to hav usinss with courts of justic. Socrats xplains that h is unr inictmnt y on Mltus for corrupting th young an for not living in th gos in whom th city livs. Aftr a rif iscussion of this, Socrats inquirs aout Euthyphro s usinss at court an is tol that h is proscuting his own fathr for th murr of a laorr who is himslf a murrr. His family an frins liv his cours of action to impious, ut Euthyphro xplains that in this thy ar mistakn an rval thir ignoranc of th natur of pity. This naturally las Socrats to ask, What is pity? An th rst of th ialogu is vot to a sarch for a finition of pity, illustrating th Socratic sarch fizr univrsal finitions of thical trms, to which a numr of arly Platonic ialogus ar vot. As usual, no finition is foun that satisfis Socrats. Th Grk trm hosion mans, in th first instanc, th knowlg of th propr ritual in prayr an sacrific an of cours its prformanc (as Euthyphro hi mslf fins it in 1-t). But oviously Euthyphro uss it in th much wir sns of pious conuct gnrally (.g., his own), an in that sns th wor is practically quivalnt to rightousnss (th justic of th Rpulic), th transition ing y way of conuct plasing to th gos. Bsis ing an xcllnt xampl of th arly, so-call Socratic ialogus, Euthyphro contains svral passags with important philosophical implications. Ths inclu thos in which Socrats spaks of th on Form, prsnt y all th actions that w call pious (5), as wll as th on in which w ar tol that th gos lov what is pious caus it is pious; it is not pious caus th gos lov it (1 O). Anothr passag clarifis th iffrnc twn gnus an spcis ( EUTHYPHRO: What s nw, Socrats, to mak you lav your usual haunts in th Lycum an spn y our tim hr y th king-archon s 1. W know nothing aout Euthyphro xcpt what w can gathr from this ialogu. H is oviously a profssional prist who consirs himslf an xprt on ritual an on pity gnrally, an, it sms, is gnrally so consir. On Euthyphro is mntion in Plato s Cratvlus (396) who is givn to nthousi asmos, inspiration or possssion, ut w cannot sur that it is th sam prson. vi

2 PLATO E[JT1-TYPFIRO 3 court? 2 Surly you ar not proscuting anyon for th king archon as I ani? S0CRAics: Th Athnians o not call this a proscution ut an inictmnt, Euthyphro. LUTHYPHRO: What is this you say? Somon must hav inict you, for you ar not going to tll m that you hav inict somon ls. S0cRArEs: No in. EUTHYPHRO: But somon ls has inict you? SocRAms: Quit so. EUTHYPHRO: Who is li? SocRATEs: I o not rally know him myslf, Euthyphro. H is appar ntly young an unknown. Thy call him Mltus, I liv. H longs to th Pitthan ni, 3 if you know anyon from that m call Mltus, with long hair, not much ofa har, an a rathr aquilin nos. EuTHYPHR0: I on t know him, Socrats. What charg os h ring against you? c SocRxrEs: What charg? A not ignol on I think, for it is no small thing for a young maii to hav knowlg of such an important sujct. H says h knows how our young mn ar corrupt an who corrupts thm. Fl is likly to wis, an whn h ss my ignoranc corrupting his contml)oraris, h procs to accus m to th city as to thir mothr. I think li is th only on of our pulic mn to start out th right way, for it is right to car first that th young shoul as goo as possil, just as a goo farmr is likly to tak car of th young plants first, an of th othrs latr. So, too, Mltus first gts ri of us 3 who corrupt th young shoots, as h says, an thn aftrwars h will 2. Th Lycum was an outoor gymnasium, just outsi th walls of Athns, whr tnag young mn ngag in xrciss an athltic comptitions. Socrats ami othr intllctuals carri on iscussions with thm thr an xhiit thir skills. S th ginnings of Plato s Euthvmus an Lysis, an th last paragraph of Symposium. Th king archon, on of th nin principal magistrats of Athns, ha tim rsponsiility to ovrs rligious rituals an purifications, aiicl as such ha ovrsight of lgal cass involving allg offnss against th Olympian gos, whos worship was a civic function it was rgar as a srious offns to offn thm. 3. A mn was, in ffct, on of th constitunt villags of Attica, th trritory whos cntr was th cit) of Athns (though Athns itslf was ivi into nis, too). Athmmiaii citizns ha first of all to nroll an rcogniz as citizns iii thir mns, oviously tak car of th olr ons an com a sourc of grat lssings for th city, as sms likly to happn to on who start out this way. EUTHYPHRO: I coul wish this wr tru, Socrats, ut I far th opposit may happn. H sms to m to start out y harming th vry hart of th city y attmpting to wrong you. Tll m, what os h say you o to corrupt th young? SOCRATES: Strang things, to har him tll it, for h says that I am a makr of gos, an on th groun that I crat nw gos whil not living in th ol gos, h has inict m for thir sak, as h puts it. EUTI-IYPHRO: I unrstan, Socrats. This is caus you say that th ivin sign kps coming to you. 4 So h has writtn this inictmnt against you as on who maks innovations in rligious mattrs, an h coms to court to slanr you, knowing that such things ar asily misrprsnt to th crow. Th sam is tru in my cas. Whnvr I spak of ivin mattrs in th assmlys an fortll th futur, thy laugh m own as if I wr crazy; an yt I hav fortol nothing that i not happn. Nvrthlss, thy nvy all of us who o this. On n not worry aout thm, ut mt thm ha-on. SOCRATES: My ar Euthyphro, to laugh at os not mattr prhaps, for th Athnians o not min anyon thy think clvr, as long as h os not tach his own wisom, ut if thy think that h maks othrs to lik himslf thy gt angry, whthr through nvy, as you say, or for som othr rason. EUTHYPHRO: I hav crtainly no sir to tst thir flings towars m in this mattr. SOCRATES: Prhaps you sm to mak yourslf ut rarly availal, an not willing to tach your own wisom, ut I m afrai that my liking for popl maks thm think that I pour out to anyoy anything I hav to say, not only without charging a f ut vn gla to rwar anyon who is willing to listn. If thn thy wr intning to laugh at m, as you say thy laugh at you, thr woul nothing unplasant 4. In Plato, Socrats always spaks of his ivin sign or voic as intrvning to prvnt him from oing or saying somthing (.g., Apology 31), ut nvr positivly. Th popular viw was that it nal him to fortll th futur, an Euthyphro hr rprsnts that viw. Not, howvr, that Socrats issociats himslf from you prophts (3). 5. Th assmly was th final cision-making oy of th Athnian mocracy. All ault mals coul attn an vot. C

3 4 PLATO EUTHYPFIRO c in thir spning thir tim in court laughing an jsting, ut if thy ar going to srious, th outcom is not clar xcpt to you prophts. Eumypiiio: Prhaps it vill com to nothing, Socrats, an you will fight your cas as you think st, as I think I will min. SOCRVFES: What is your cas, Euthvphro? Arc von th fnant or th proscutor? Eu ihyphro: 11 ic prosctitor. Socixrs: Whom o you proscut? EunnPFIRO: On whom 1 am thought crazy to proscut. Soc1KrEs: Arc von puitmg somon who will asily scap you? EurI1 PJIRo: Far from it, for h is quit ol. SocRAms: Who is it? EUTHYPHRO: Mv fathr. SOCRATES: My ar sir! Your own fathr? E UIl-IYPH P.0: Crtainly. SOCRATES: What is th charg? What is th cas aout? Eu ri-iypl-iro: Murr, Socrats. SOcRATEs: Goo havns! Crtainly, Euthyphro, most mn woul not know how thy coul o this an right. It is not th part of anyon to o this, ut of on who is far avanc in wisom. EuT1-lypi-IRo: Ys, y Zus, Socrats, that is so. SOCRATES: Is thn th nian your fathr kill on of your rlativs? Or is that ovious, for von woul not proscut your fathr for th murr of a strangr. EUTHYPEIRO: It is riiculous, Socrats, for you to think that it maks any iffrnc whthr th victim is a strangr or a rlativ. On shoul only watch whthr th killr act justly or not; if h act justly, lt him go, ut if not, oii shoul proscut, if, that is to say, th killr shars your harth an tal. Th pollution is th sam if you knowingly kp company with such a man an o not clans yourslf an him y ringing him to justic. Th victim was a pnnt of min, an whn w wr farinimig in Naxos h was a srvamit of ours. 6 H kill on of our houshol slavs in runkn angr, so my fathr oun him han an foot an thrw him in a itch, thn snt a man hr to 6. Naxos is a larg islan in th Agan Sa southast of Athns, whr Athns ha appropriat lan an sttl many of its citizns unr its imprial rul us th mi filth cntury B.(:. inquir from th prist what shoul on. During that tim h gav no thought or car to th oun man, as ing a killr, an it was no mattr if h i, which h i. Hungr an col an his ons caus his ath for th mssngr cam ack from th sr. Both my fathr an my othr rlativs ar angry that I am proscuting my fathr for murr on half of a murrr whn h han t vn kill him, thy say, an vn if h ha, th a man os not srv a thought, sinc h was a killr. For, thy say, it is impious for a son to proscut his fathr for murr. But thir ias of th ivin attitu to pity an impity ar wrong, Socrats. SOCRATES: Whras, y Zus, Euthyphro, you think that your knowl g of th ivin, an of pity an impity, is so accurat that, whn thos things happn as you say, you hav no far of having act impiously in ringing your fathr to trial? EUTHYPHRO: I shoul of no us, Socrats, an Euthyphro woul not suprior to th majority of mn, if I i not hav accurat knowlg of all such things. SOCRATES: It is in most important, my amiral Euthyphro, that I shoul com your pupil, an as rgars this inictmnt, chal lng Mltus aout ths vry things ah say to him: that in th past too I consir knowlg aout th ivin to most important, an that now that h says that I am guilty of improvising an innovating aout th gos I hav com your pupil. I woul say to him: If, Mltus, you agr that Euthyphro is wis in ths mattrs, consir m, too, to hav th right lifs an o not ring m to trial. If you o not think so, thn proscut that tachr of min, not m, for corrupting th olr mn, m an his own fathr, y taching m an y xhorting an punishing him. If h is not convinc, an os not ischarg m or inict you insta of m, I shall rpat th sam challng in court. EUTHIPHRO: Ys, y Zus, Socrats, an, if h shoul try to inict m, I think I woul fin his wak spots an th talk in court woul aout him rathr than aout m. SocRATEs: It is caus I raliz this that I am agr to com your pupil, my ar frin. I know that othr popl as wll as this Mltus o not vn sm to notic you, whras h ss m so sharply an clarly that h inicts m for ungolinss. So tll m now, y Zus, what von just now maintain you clarly knw: what kin of thing o you say that golinss an ungolinss ar, oth as rgars murr an othr things; or is th pious not th sam an alik in vry action, 5 C

4 6 PLATO EUTHYPHRO 7 an th iiiipiotis th opposit of all that is pious an lik itslf, an vrything that is to impious prsits us with on forni or apparanc insofar as it is impious? EUTHYPHRO: Most crtainly, Socrats. SOCRATES: Tll m thn, what is th pious, an what th impious, o you say? EUTHYPFIRO: I say that th pious is to o what I am oing now, to proscut th wrongor, it aout murr or tmpl rory or anything ls, whthr th wrongor is your fathr or your mothr or anyon ls; not to proscut is impious. An osrv, Socrats, that I can cit powrful vinc that th law is so. I hav alray sai to othrs that such actions ar right, not to favor th ungoly, whovr thy ar. Ths popl thmslvs liv that Zus is th st an 6 most just of th gos, yt thy agr that h oun his fathr caus h unjustly swallow his sons, an that h in turn castrat his fathr for similar rasons. But thy ar angry with m caus I am proscuting my fathr for his wrongoing. Thy contraict thmslvs in what thy say aout th gos an aout m. SOCRATES: In, Etithyphro, this is th rason why I am a fn ant in th cas, caus I Hn it har to accpt things lik that ing sai aout th gos, an it is likly to th rason why I shall tol I o wrong. Now, howvr, if you, who hav full knowlg of such things, shar thir opinions, thn w must agr with thm, too, it woul sm. For what ar w to say, w who agr that w ourslvs hav no knowlg of thm? Tll m, y th go of frinship, o you rally liv ths things ar tru? EUTHYPHRO: Ys, Socrats, an so ar vn mor surprising things, of which th majority has no knowlg. Soc1.xnS: An o von liv that thr rally is war among th gos, ari trril nmitis an attls, an othr such things as ar tol y th pots, an othr sacr storis such as ar mroir y 7. This is th kin of passag that maks it asir for us to follow th transition from Socrats univrsal fiuiitions to th Platonic thory of sparatly xistnt trnal univrsal Forms. Th wors ios an ia, th tchnical trms for th Platonic Forms, commonly man physical statur or oily apparanc. As w apply a common pitht, in this cas pious, to iffrnt actions or things, ths must hav a common charactristic, prsnt a common apparanc or form, to justi6y th us of th sam trm, ut in th arly ialogus, as hr, it sms to thought of as immannt in th particulars an without sparat xistnc. Th sam is tru of 6 whr th wor form is also us. goo writrs an y rprsntations of which th ro of th goss is aorn whn it is carri up to th Acropolis? 8 Ar w to say ths things ar tru, Euthyphro? EUTHYPHRO: Not only ths, Socrats, ut, as I was saying just now, I will, if you wish, rlat many othr things aout th gos which I know will amaz ou. SOCRATES: I shoul not surpris, ut you will tll m ths at lisur som othr tim. For now, try to tll m mor clarly what I was asking just now, for, my frin, you i not tach m aquatly whn I ask you what th pious was, ut you tol m that what you ar oing now, in proscuting your fathr for murr, is pious. EUTHYPHRO: An I tol th truth, Socrats. SOCRATES: Prhaps. You agr, howvr, that thr ar many othr pious actions. EUTHYPHRO: Thr ar. SOCRATES: Bar in min thn that I i not i you tll m on or two of th many pious actions ut that form itslf that maks all pious actions pious, for you agr that all impious actions ar impious an all pious actions pious through on form, or on t you rmmr? EUTHYPHRO: I o. SOCRATES: Fll m thn what this form itslf is, so that I may look upon it an, using it as a mol, say that any action of yours or anothr s that is of that kin is pious, an if it is not that it is not. EUTHYPHRO: If that is how you want it, Socrats, that is how I will tll you. SOCRATES: That is what I want. EUTHYPHRO: Wll thn, what is ar to th gos is pious, what is 7 not is impious. SOCRATES: Splni, Euthyphro! You hav now answr in th way I want. Whthr your answr is tru I o not know yt, ut you will oviously show m that what you say is tru. 8. Th Acropolis is th hug rocky outcropping in th cntr of Athns that srv as th cital for Attica, an also th cntr of its rligious lif. Major tmpls to th gos wr thr, incluing th Parthnon, th tmpl of Athna, th city s protctrss. Evry four yars in an laorat fstival in hr honor mains rought up th crmonial ro rfrr to hr, in which to cloth hr statu.

5 PL\TO EUTHYPHRQ 9 Eu iin piiio: Crtainly. SocRAiis: Com thn, lt us xamin what w man. An action or a man ar to th gos is pious, ut an action or a man hat y th gos is impious. Thy arc not th sam, ut quit opposit, th pious an th Impious. Is that not so? EUTIIYPHRO: It is in. SocixrEs: An that sms to a goo statmnt? EUTHYPHRO: I think so, Socrats. SocaxmEs: W hav also stat that th gos ar in a stat of iscor, that thy ar at os with ach othr, Euthyphro, an that thy ar at nmity with ach othr. Has that, too, n sai? EUTHYPFIR0: It has. SOCRATES: What ar th sujcts of iffrnc that caus hatr an angr? Lt ns look at it this way. If you an I wr to iffr aout numrs as to which is th gratr, woul this iffrnc mak us nmis an angry with ach othr, or woul w proc to count an c soon rsolv our iffrnc aout this? EuTFIYPIIRO: W woul crtainly o so. SOcRATEs: Again, if w iffr aout th largr an th smallr, w woul turn to masurmnt an soon cas to iffr. Eu lhypiiro: That is so. S0CR.A res: An aout th havir an th lightr, w woul rsort to wighing an rconcil. EUTHYPHRO: Of cours. SOCRATES: What sujct of iffrnc woul mak us angry an hostil to ach othr if w wr unal to com to a cision? Prhaps you o not hav an answr ray, ut xamin as I tll you whthr ths sujcts ar th just an th unjust, th autiful an th ugly, th goo an th l)a. Ar ths not th sujcts of iffrnc aout which, whn w ar unal to com to a satisfactory cision, you an I an othr mn com hostil to ach othr whnvr w o? EUTHYPHRO: That is th iffrnc, Socrats, aout thos sujcts. SOCRAtEs: What aout th gos, Euthyphro? If in thy hav iffrncs, will it not aout ths sam sujcts? EUTHYPIIRO: It crtainly must so. SoCRAtEs: ihn accoring to your argumnt, my goo Euthyphro, iffrnt gos consir iffrnt things to just, autiful, ugly, goo, an a, for thy woul not at os with on anothr unlss thy iffr aout ths sujcts, woul thy? EUTHYPHRO: You ar right. SOCRATES: An thy lik what ach of thm consirs autiful, goo, an just, an hat th opposits of ths? EUTHYPHRO: Crtainly. SOCRATES: But you say that th sam things ar consir just y som gos an unjust y othrs, an as thy isput aout ths things thy ar at os an at war with ach othr, is that not so? EUTHYPHRO: It is. SOCRATES: Th sam things thn ar lov y th gos an hat y th gos, an woul oth go-lov an go-hat. EUTHYPHRO: It sms likly. SOCRATES: An th sam things woul oth pious an impious, accoring to this argumnt? EUTHYPHRO: I m afrai so. SOCRATES: So you i not answr my qustion, you surprising man. I i not ask you what sam thing is oth pious an impious, an it appars that what is lov y th gos is also hat y thm. So it is in no way surprising if your prsnt action, namly punishing your fathr, may plasing to Zus ut isplasing to Cronus an Uranus, 9 plasing to Hphastus ut isplasing to Hra, an so with any othr gos who iffr from ach othr on this sujct. EUTI-IYPHRO: I think, Socrats, that on this sujct no gos woul iffr from on anothr, that whovr has kill anyon unjustly shoul pay th pnalty. SOCRATES: Wll now, Euthyphro, hav you vr har any man maintaining that on who has kill or on anything ls unjustly shoul not pay th pnalty? EUTHYPHRO: Thy nvr cas to isput on this sujct, oth ls whr an in th courts, for whn thy hav committ many wrongs thy o an say anything to avoi th pnalty. SOCRATES: Do thy agr thy hav on wrong, Euthvphro, an in spit of so agring o thy nvrthlss say thy shoul not pun ish? EUTHYPHRO: No, thy o not agr on that point. SOCRATES: So thy o not say or o just anything. For thy o not vntur to say this, or isput that thy must not pay th pnally if thy hav on wrong, ut I think thy ny oing wrong. Is that not so? 9. Zus fathr, whom h fought an fat (s 6a), was Cronus; Cronus, in turn, ha castrat his own fathr Uranus. Th story of Hphastus an his mothr Hra, mntion nxt, similarly involvs a son punishing his parnt. 8 C

6 It) PLATO EUTHYPHRO 11 Euli-lYPI-IRO: 1 hat is tru. SOCRATES: Thn thy o not isput that th wrongor must punish, hut thy may isagr as to who th wrongor is, what h i, an whn. EuTi-n PnRo: You ar right. SOCRATES: Do iiot th gos hav th sam xprinc, if in thy ar at os with ach othr aout th just an th unjust, as your argumnt maintains? Som assrt that thy wrong on anothr, whil othrs ns it, l)ut no on among gos or mn vnturs to say that th wrongor must not punish. EUTHYPHRO: Ys, that is tru, Socrats, as to th main point. SOCRA1ES: An thos who isagr, whthr mn or gos, isput aout ach action, if in th gos isagr. Som say it is on justly, othrs unjustly. Is that not so? Eu riiypiiro: Ys, in. 9 SOCRATES: Conic now, my ar Eutlivphro, tll m, too, that I may com wisr, what proof you hav that all th gos consir that man to hav n kill unjustly who cam a murrr whil in your srvic, was oun y th mastr of his victim, an i in his ons for th on who oun him foun out from th srs what was to on with him, an that it is right for a son to nounc an to proscit his fathr on half of such a man. Com, try to show m a clar sign that all th gos finitly liv this action to right. If you can giv inc aquat proof of this, I shall iivr cas to xtol your wisom. EumI PHRo: This is prhaps no light task, Socrats, though I coul show you ry clarly. SOCRATES: I unrstan that you think m mor ull will than th jury, as von vill oviously show thm that ths actions wr unjust an that all th gos hat such actions. EuTHYPHR0: I will show it to thm clarly, Socrats, if only thy will listn to m. c S0CRAi Es: i hiv will listn if th think you show thm wll. But this thought cam to m as you wr spaking, an I am xamining it, saying to myslf: if Euthyphro shows m conclusivly that all th gos consir such a ath unjust, to what gratr xtnt hav I larn from him th natur of pity an impity? This action woul thn, it sms, hat y th gos, ut th pious an th impious wr not thry now fin, for what is hat y th gos has also n shown to lov 1w thm. So I will not insist on this point; lt us assum, if you wish, that all th gos consir this unjust an that thy all hat it. Howvr, is this th corrction w ar making in our iscussion, that what all th gos hat is impious, an what thy all lov is pious, an that what som gos lov an othrs hat is nithr or oth? Is that how you now wish us to fin pity an impity? EUTHYPHRO: What prvnts us from oing so, Socrats? SOCRATES: For my part nothing, Euthyphro, ut you look whthr on your part this proposal will nal you to tach m most asily what you promis. EUTHYPHRO: I woul crtainly say that th pious is what all th gos lov, an th opposit, what all th gos hat, is th impious. SoCRATEs: Thn lt us again xamin whthr that is a soun stat mnt, or o w lt it pass, an if on of us, or somon ls, mrly says that somthing is so, o w accpt that it is so? Or shoul w xamin what th spakr mans? EUTHYPHRO: W must xamin it, ut I crtainly think that this is now a fin statmnt. SOCRATES: W shall soon know ttr whthr it is. Consir this: Is th pious ing lov y th gos caus it is pious, or is it pious caus it is ing lov y th gos? EUTHYPHRO: I on t know what you man, Socrats. SOCRATES: I shall try to xplain mor clarly : w spak of somthing carri an somthing carrying, of somthing l an somthing la ing, of somthing sn an somthing sing, an you unrstan that ths things ar all iffrnt from on anothr an how thy iffr? EUTHYPHRO: I think I o. SOCRATES: So thr is also somthing lov an a iffrnt thing somthing loving. EUTHYPHRO: Of cours. SOCRATES: Tll m thn whthr th thing carri is a carri thing caus it is ing carri, or for som othr rason? EUTHYPHRO: No, that is th rason. SOCRATES: An th thing l is so caus it is ing l, an th thing sn caus it is ing sn? EUTHYPHRO: Crtainly. SOCRATES: It is not ing sn caus it is a thing sn ut on th contrary it is a thing sn caus it is ing sn; nor is it caus it is somthing l that it is ing l ut caus it is ing l that it is somthing l; nor is sointhing ing carri caus it is somthing 10

7 12 PLATO EUTHYPHRO 13 carri, ut it is somthing carri caus it is ing carri. Is what c I want to say clar, Eimthyphro? I want to say this, namly, that if anything is ing chang or is ing affct in any way, it is not ing chang caus it is somthing chang, ut rathr it is som thing chang caus it is ing chang; nor is it ing affct caus it is somthing affct, ut it is somthing affct caus it is ing affct. EUTHYPHRO: I o. SocI..iv1 Es: Is somthing lov ithr somthing chang or som thing affct y somthing? EUTIIyPI-IRo: Crtainly. SOCRATES: So it is in th sam cas as th things just mntion; it is not ing lov y thos who lov it caus it is somthing lov, ut it is somthing lov caus it is ing lov y thm? EUTHYPHRO: Ncssarily. SOCRATES: What thn o w say aout th pious, Euthyphro? Surly that it is ing lov y all th gos, accoring to what you say? Eumypm-i RO: Ys. SOCRATES: Is it ing lov caus it is pious, or for som othr rason? EUTHYPE1RO: For no othr rason. SOCRATES: It is iiig lov thn caus it is pious, ut it is not pious caus it is ing lov? EUTHYP1-IRO: Apparntly. SOCRA i Es: An vt it is somthing lov an go-lov caus it is ing lov y th gos? EUTHYPHRO: Of cours. SOCRATES: Thn th go-lov is isot th sam as th pious, Euthy phro, nor th pious th sam as th go lov, as you say it is, ut on iffrs from th othr. 0 Or o you not agr? 10. Flr Socrats givs th gnral principl unr which, h says, th spcific cass alray xamin thos of laing, carrying, an sing all fall. It is y ing chang y sonitliing that changs it (.g., y carrying it somwhr) that anything is a chang thing not vic vrsa: it is not y somthing s ing. a chang thing that somthing ls thn changs it so that it coms to ing chang (c.g., y carrying it somwhr). Likwis for affctions such as ing sn y somon: it is y ing affct y somthing that affcts it that anything is an affct thing, not vic vrsa. It is not y ing an affct thing (.g., a thing sii) that somthing ls thn affcts it. EUTHYPHRO: How so, Socrats? SOCRATES: Bcaus w agr that th pious is ing lov for this rason, that it is pious, ut it is not pious caus it is ing lov. Is that not so? EUTHYPHRO: Ys. SOCRATES: An that th go-lov, on th othr han, is so caus it is ing lov y th gos, y th vry fact of ing lov, ut it is not ing lov caus it is go-lov. EUTHYPHRO: Tru. SOCRATES: But if th go-lov an th pious wr th sam, my ar Euthyphro, thn if th pious was ing lov caus it was pious, th go-lov woul also ing lov caus it was go-lov; an if th go-lov was go-lov caus it was ing lov y th gos, thn th pious woul also pious caus it was ing lov y th gos. But now you s that thy ar in opposit cass as ing altogthr iffrnt from ach othr: th on is such as to lov caus it is ing lov, th othr is ing lov caus it is such as to lov. I m afrai, Euthyphro, that whn you wr ask what pity is, you i not wish to mak its natur clar to m, ut y ou tol m an affct or quality of it, that th pious has th quality of ing lov y all th gos, ut y ou hav not yt tol m what th pious is. Now, if you will, o not hi things from m ut tll m again from th ginning what pity is, whthr ing lov y th gos or having som othr quality w shall not quarrl aout that ut kn to tll m what th pious an th impious ar. EUTHYPHRO: But Socrats, 1 hav no way of tlling you what I hav in min, for whatvr proposition w put forwar gos aroun an rfuss to stay put whr w stalish it. SOCRATES: Your statmnts, Euthvphro, sm to long to my ancs tor, Daalus. If I wr stating thm an putting thm forwar, you woul prhaps making fun of m an say that caus of my kinship with him my conclusions in iscussion run away an will not stay whr on puts thm. As ths propositions ar yours, howvr, w n som othr jst, for thy will not stay put for you, as you say yourslf. EUTHYPHRO: I think th sam jst will o for our iscussion, Socrats, for I am not th on who maks thm go aroun an not rmain in 11. Socrats may hav n a stonmason, as his fathr was. In Grk mythology Daalus status (ma of woo) coul mov thmslvs. 11 C

8 14 PLATO EUTHYPHRO 15 th sam j)lac; it is you who ar th Daalus; for as far as I am concrn thy woul rmain as thy wr. SOCRATES: It looks as if I was clvrr than Daalus in using my skill, my frin, insofar as h coul only caus to mov th things h ma himslf, ut I can mak othr popl s mov as wll as my own. An th smartst part of my skill is that I am clvr without wanting to, for I woul rathr hav your statmnts to m rmain unmov than possss th walth of Tantalus as wll as th clvrnss of Daalus. But nough of this. Sinc I think you ar making unncssary ifficul tis, I am as agr as you ar to fin a way to tach m aout pity, an o not giv up for you o. S whthr you think all that is pious is of ncssity just. EUTHYPHRO: I think so. SOCRATES: An is thn all that is just pious? Or is all that is pious 12 just, ut not all that is just pious, ut som of it is an som is not? EUTHYPHRO: I o not follow what you ar saying, Socrats. SoC1xrES: Yt you ar youngr than I y as much as you ar wisr. As I say, you ar making ifficultis caus of your walth of wisom. Pull yourslf togthr, my ar sir, what I am saying is not ifficult to grasp. I am saying th opposit of what th pot sai who wrot: c You o not wish to nam Zus, who ha on it, an who ma all things grow, for whr thr is far thr is also sham. I isagr with th pot. Shall I tll you why? EUTHYPHRO: Plas o. SOCRATES: I o not think that whr thr is far thr is also sham, for I think that many popl who far isas an povrty an many othr such things fl far, ut ar not asham of th things thy far. L)o you not think so? EUTHYPHRO: I o in. SOCRATES: But whr thr is sham thr is also far. For is thr anyon who, in fling sham an marrassmnt at anything, os not also at th sam tim far an ra a rputation for wicknss? EUTHYPHRO: H is crtainly afrai. SOCRATES: It is thn not right to say whr thr is far thr is also sham, ut that whr thr is sham thr is also far, for far covrs a largr ara than sham. Sham is a part of far just as o is a part of numr, with th rsult that it is not tru that whr thr is 12. Author unknown. numr thr is also onss, ut that whr thr is onss thr is also numr. Do you follow m now? EUTHYPHRO: Surly. SocRATEs: This is th kin of thing I was asking for, whthr whr thr is pity thr is also justic, ut whr thr is justic thr is not always pity, for th pious is a part of justic. Shall w say that, or o you think othrwis? EUTHYPHRO: No, ut lik that, for what you say appars to right. SOCRATES: S what coms nxt: if th pious is a part of th just, w must, it sms, fin out what part of th just it is. Now if you ask m somthing of what w mntion just now, such as what part of numr is th vn, an what numr that is, I woul say it is th numr that is ivisil into two qual, not unqual, parts. Or o you not think so? EUTHYPE-IRO: I o. SOCRATES: Try in this way to tll m what part of th just th pious is, in orr to tll Mltus not to wrong us any mor an not to inict m for ungolinss, sinc I hav larn from you sufficintly what is goly an pious an what is not. EUTHYPHRO: I think, Socrats, that th goly an pious is th part of th just that is concrn with th car of th gos, whil that concrn with th car of mn is th rmaining part of justic. SOCRATES: You sm to m to put that vry wll, ut I still n a it of information. I o not know yt what you man y car, for you o not man th car of th gos in th sam sns as th car of othr things, as, for xampl, w say, on t w, that not vryon knows how to car for horss, ut th hors rr os. EUTHYPHRO: Ys, I o man it that way. SOCRATES: So hors ring is th car of horss. EUTHYPHRO: Ys. SOCRATES: Nor os vryon know how to car for ogs, ut th huntr os. EUTHYPHRO: That is so. SOCRATES: So hunting is th car of ogs. EUTHYPHRO: Ys. SOCRATES: An cattl raising is th car of cattl. EUTHYPHRO: Quit so. SOCRATES: Whil pity an golinss is th car of th gos, Euthy phro. Is that what you man? 13

9 c 16 PLATO EUTHYPHRO 17 EUTHYPI-IRO: It is. SocRivfEs: Now car in ach cas has th sam ffct; it aims at th goo an th nfit of th ojct car for, as you can s that horss car for y hors rrs ar nfit an com ttr. Or o you not think so? EUTHYPHRO: I o. SOCRATES: So ogs ar nfit y og ring, cattl y cattl raising, an so with all th othrs. Or o you think that car aims to harm th o)ct of its car? EUTHYPHRO: By Zus, no. SOCRATES: It aims to nfit th ojct of its car? EUTHYPHRO: Of cours. SOCRATES: Is pi thn, which is th car of th gos, also to nfit th gos an mak thm ttr? vvoul you agr that whn you o somthing pious you mak som on of th gos ttr? EUTHYPHRO: By Zus, no. SOCRATES: Nor o I think that this is what you man far from it ut that is why I ask you what you mant y th car of gos, caus I i not liv you mant this kin of car. EUTHYPHRO: Quit right, Socrats, that is not th kin of car I man. SOCRATES: pity? Vry wll, ut what kin of car of th gos woul EUTHYPI-IRO: Th kin of car, Socrats, that slavs tak of thir mastrs. SOCRATES: I EuTHypI-iiO: Quit so. unrstan. It is likly to a kin of srvic of th gos. SOCRAlES: Coul you tll m to th achivmnt of what goal srvic to octors tns? Is it not, o you think, to achiving halth? EUTHYPHRO: 1 think so. SOCRATES: What aout srvic to shipuilrs? To what achivmnt is it irct? EUTHYPHRO: Clarly, Socrats, to th uiling of a ship. SOCRATES: An srvic to housuilrs to th uiling of a hous? EuTIIYFFIR0: is. SOCRATES: Tll m thn, my goo sir, to th achivmnt of what aim os srvic to th gos tn? You oviously know sinc you say that you, of all mn, hav th st knowlg of th ivin. EUTHYPHRO: An 1 am tlling th truth, Socrats. SOCRATES: Tll m thn, y Zus, what is that xcllnt aim that th gos achiv, using us as thir srvants? EUTHYPHRO: Many fin things, Socrats. SOCRATES: So o gnrals, my frin. Nvrthlss you coul asily tll m thir main concrn, which is to achiv victor in war, is it not? EUTHYPHRO: Of cours. SOCRATES: Th farmrs, too, I think, achiv many fin things, ut th main point of thir fforts is to prouc foo from th arth. EUTHYPHRO: Quit so. SOCRATES: Wll thn, how woul you sum up th many fin things that th gos achiv? EUTHYPHRO: I tol you a short whil ago, Socrats, that it is a consiral task to acquir any prcis knowlg of ths things, ut, to put it simply, I say that if a man knows how to say an o what is plasing to th gos at prayr an sacrific, thos ar pious actions such as prsrv oth privat houss an pulic affairs of stat. Ih opposit of ths plasing actions ar impious an ovrturn an stroy vrything. SOCRATES: You coul tll m in far fwr wors, if you wr willing, th sum of what I ask, Euthyphro, ut you ar not kn to tach m, that is clar. You wr on th point of oing so, ut you turn away. If you ha givn that answr, I shoul now hav acquir from you sufficint knowlg of th natur of pity. As it is, th lovr of inquiry must follow his lov whrvr it may la him. Onc mor thn, what o you say that pity an th pious ar? Ar thy a knowlg of how to sacrific an pray? EUTHYPHRO: Thy ar. SOCRATES: To sacrific is to mak a gift to th gos, whras to pray is to g from th gos? EUTHYPHRO: Dfinitly, Socrats. SOCRATES: It woul follow from this statmnt that pity woul a knowlg of how to giv to, an g from, th gos. EUTHYPHRO: You unrstoo what I sai vry wll, Socrats. SOCRATES: That is caus I am so sirous of your wisom, an I concntrat my min on it, so that no wor of yours may fall to th groun. But tll in, what is this srvic to th gos? You say it is to g from thm an to giv to thm? EUTHYPHRO: I o. SOCRATES: An to g corrctly woul to ask from thm things that w n? 14 C

10 18 PLATO EUTRYPRRQ 19 EurHYPIIRo: What ls? SOCRATES: An to giv corrctly is to giv thni what thy n from us, for it woul not skillful to ring gifts to anyon that ar in no way n. EUTHYPHRO: fru, Socrats. Soc1TEs: Pity woul thn a sort of traing skill twn gos an mn? EUTHYPHRO: Traing ys, if you prfr to call it that. SocRAms: I P 1 nothing, unlss it is tru. But tll m, what nfit o th gos riv from th gifts th rciv from us? What thy giv 15 us is ovious to all. Thr is for us no goo that w o not rciv from thm, ut how ar thy nfit y what thy rciv from us? Or o w hav such an avantag ovr thm in th tra that w rciv all our lssings from thm an thy rciv nothing from us? EUTHYPHRO: Do you suppos, Socrats, that th gos ar nfit y what thy rciv from tis? SOCRATES: What coul thos gifts from us to th gos, Euthyphro? EUTHYPHRO: What ls, o you think, than honor, rvrnc, an what I mntion just now, gratitu? SOCRATES: Th pious is thn, Euthyphro, plasing to th gos, ut not nficial or ar to thm? EUTHYPHRO: I think it is of all things most ar to thm. SocRATEs: So th pious is onc again what is ar to th gos. EUTHYPHRO: Most crtainly. SOCRATES: Whn you say this, will you surpris if your argumnts sm to mov aout insta of staying put? An will you accus m of ing Daalus who maks thm mov, though you ar yourslf much mor skillful than Daalus an mak thm go aroun in a circl? Or o you not raliz that our argumnt has mov aroun an com again to th sam plac? You surly rmmr that arlir th pious an th go-lov wr shown not to th sam ut iffrnt from ach othr. Or o you not rmmr? EUTHYPHRO: I o. SOCRATES: Do you thn not raliz iiow that you ar saying that what is ar to th gos is th pious? Is this not th sam as th golov? Or is it not? EUTHYFI-IRO: It crtainly is. SOCRATES: Eithr w wr wrong whn w agr for, or, if w wr right thn, w ar wrong now. EUTHYPHRO: That sms to so. SOCRATES: So w must invstigat again from th ginning what pity is, as I shall not willingly giv up for I larn this. Do not think m unworthy, ut concntrat your attntion an tll th truth. For you know it, if any man os, an I must not lt you go, lik Protus, 13 for you tll m. If you ha no clar knowlg of pity an impity you woul nvr hav vntur to proscut your ol fathr for murr on half of a srvant. For far of th gos you woul hav n afrai to tak th risk lst you shoul not acting rightly, an woul hav n asham for mn, ut now I know wll that you liv you hav clar knowlg of pity an impity. So tll m, my goo Euthyphro, an o not hi what you think it is. EUTHYPHRO: Som othr tim, Socrats, for I am in a hurry now, an it is tim for m to go. SOCRATES: What a thing to o, my frin! By going you hav cast m own from a grat hop I ha, that I woul larn from you th natur of th pious an th impious an so scap Mltus inictmnt y showing him that I ha acquir wisom in ivin mattrs from Euthyphro, an my ignoranc woul no longr caus m to carlss an invntiv aout such things, an that I woul ttr for th rst of my lif. 13. In Grk mythology Protus was a sort of ol man of th sa, who coul kp on changing his form an so scap ing qustion. S Homr, Oyssy iv.382 if. 16