What is Piety?
What is loyalty? It is the central philosophical question examined by Plato in his dialogue Euthyphro. Euthyphro is one of Plato’s dialogues, which takes place between Euthyphro and Socrates outside a religious court. Socrates asks Euthyphro to define what he considers pious or impious. Euthyphro says, “Well now, I claim that the pious is what I am doing now, prosecuting someone guilty of wrongdoing, either of murder or temple robbery or anything else of the sort, whether it happens to be one’s father or mother or whoever else.” (p.10). He goes ahead to define impious as failure to prosecute wrongdoings. In short, as questioned by Socrates, Euthyphro says that what is pious is dear to the gods is what they dislike is impious. Socrates asks Euthyphro’s piousness genuinely, and eventually, he walks away without adequately defining what it is. I would not consider Euthyphro’s definition of piety as exact or acceptable. I would define loyalty as the core values of the same religion, such as forgiveness and humility, and kindness; generally, it is what I would consider being the right person.
Socrates and Euthyphro meet outside a religious court in Athens, where they are facing charges, which Socrates refers to a public indictment. The two men have a conversation on why they both have cases to answer. Socrates says that a man called Meletos from Pitthos on the charges of corrupting young people through his teachings against the belief in the gods, and instead, teaching them his faith in other gods. Euthyphro optimistically tells Socrates that he would win the case because it seemed like only Meletos cared about how the young people would eventually turn out. Athenians so much valued their gods, that Socrates teaching about other ‘false gods’ was considered slander worth prosecuting. However, Socrates seemed much concerned about Euthyphro’s case, and he was in search of the deeper meaning of loyalty from Euthyphro’s who seemed knowledgeable about matters religion.
Euthyphro says that he is there to prosecute his father on murder charges. Socrates questions him on whether the person his father killed was their relative since, in Athenian laws, only relatives of a murdered person would prosecute the murderer. However, Euthyphro says that he had no relations with the person whom his father killed and says it is ridiculous for Socrates to make such an assumption. Euthyphro says that what people should question is whether the murderer did so legally or illegally, and whether to let him go or prosecute him based on the legality or illegality of the act. According to Euthyphro, the man his father murdered was one of his laborers, and he had committed a murder crime himself. His father had tied him up as he sought religious counsel on what to do with him. He had, however, forgotten to feed the man, and he had died of hunger in the process. Euthyphro’s family did not find fault in what his father did since the man was a murderer himself. It made Euthyphro’s family very angry at him for prosecuting his father on behalf of a murderer.
From Socrates’ questioning of the definition of loyalty, Euthyphro offers several descriptions of it. First, he says that piety is prosecuting those who do wrong to others, and failure to do so is hypocrisy. However, Socrates counters Euthyphro’s definition as just a general definition of loyalty without a more in-depth understanding. The second definition Euthyphro offers that commitment is what is dear to the gods, and impiety is what they hate. However, Socrates says that it makes no sense at all since even the gods themselves disagree on what entails the concept of justice and loyalty. The third definition is that loyalty is what the gods love, which Socrates questions as to whether the gods love reverence because it is pious, or is something holy because the gods love it, whether religious or impious? This definition seems very misleading. Fourth, Euthyphro defines piety as carrying out justice by caring for the gods. This definition of care, in this case, is nebulous. The last definition of piety that Euthyphro provides is that it is doing what is pleasing to the gods, more so like what he was doing by prosecuting his father.
I think that Euthyphro’s definitions of piety are quite vague, and the fact that he leaves without answering Socrates’ quest for the more profound meaning shows that he had limited knowledge on the topic. Euthyphro’s definitions collide with the concept of justice. I would define loyalty as being the right person to others that are practicing humility, kindness, and forgiveness. When this act as the guide to what being pious and impious is, people would be more sensitive about how their actions affect others positively or negatively, hence avoiding acts that harm others.