Philosophy 101/103
Study questions:  Plato's "Euthyphro"


1.  Under what circumstances do Socrates and Euthyphro meet?  Why is each of them at court?

2.  Euthyphro takes up Socrates' challenge to explain the nature of holiness (or piety).  What is
     Euthyphro's first attempt at a definition?  How does Socrates demonstrate its failure?

3.  What is Euthyphro's second attempt at defining "the holy"?  How does Socrates show that
     this definition is also inadequate? (You might set out his argument in premise-and-conclusion
     form.)  How does Euthyphro address this problem?

4.  Socrates asks Euthyphro at one point, "is the holy loved by the gods because it is holy?  Or is it
     holy because it is loved?" (11).  What does he mean by this question?  What do they agree is
     the right answer to it?  Why is that answer a problem for Euthyphro's claim that the holy is
     what all the gods love?

5.  Suppose I were to define moral rightness/wrongness in the following way:  What makes an act
     morally right is that it is commanded (or permitted) by God.  What makes an act wrong is that
     it is forbidden by God.  Whatever God commands or permits is right; whatever God forbids
     is wrong.  How might Socrates criticize that definition?  How might I answer his criticisms?