Study Guide
Plato - Euthyphro

1. Why is Euthyphro bringing a court case against his own father?  What is Socrates' reaction upon learning of this?
2. Look up the word piety in a dictionary.  At first, what does Euthyphro think about his own knowledge of what is pious and impious?
3. What is Euthyphro's first definition of piety and impiety?
4. Does Euthyphro believe the stories about the Greek gods (Zeus, Cronos, Uranus, etc.) fighting?
5. What complaint does Socrates make about Euthyphro's first definition of piety?
6. What is Euthyphro's second definition of piety and impiety?
7. What complaint does Socrates make about Euthyphro's second definition of piety? Note carefully the manner in which Socrates arrives at this complaint.
8. How does Socrates amend Euthyphro's second definition of piety to avoid the problem he found?
9. What question does Socrates ask about the relationship between piety and the gods?  Explain what Socrates means by this question. (Socrates' own explanation of what he means is difficult to follow. You might do better just thinking about it!)
10. Socrates asks, "What part of justice is piety or holiness?" What is Euthyphro's answer?
11. What is Socrates' point about "attention"? What sort of "attention" to the gods does Euthyphro say is piety?
12.  Instead of answering Socrates question about what the principal good thing done by the gods is, Euthyphro offers another definition of piety. What is it?
13. What problem does Socrates have with this definition?
14. Is Euthyphro ever able to offer Socrates a satisfactory definition of piety?