Plato presents Socrates’ experience of being discriminated and wrongly judged by Athenians as a result of his philosophical criticisms concerning some religious beliefs. Socrates believes that the wisdom Athenians possess is false as they are not able to explain some religious beliefs and practices. This is proven in Euthyphro’s attempt to define piety since none of the definitions leave Socrates satisfied and rather leave a trail of unanswered queries and unexplained theories in their encounter at the court house. As a result, Socrates is defined as an atheist who spreads false religious knowledge at a fee and misguides the youth with his ideologies. Meletus through his accusations against Socrates of being impious takes him to court to face trial. Socrates in turn through the Apology which is his defense tries to prove his innocence. Piety involves being spiritual and devoted to religion. This paper will work towards supporting Plato, a student of Socrates in justifying his piety regarding his experiences in Athens.
What does Socrates say in Euthyphro that may be interpreted as an indication of his piety?
One of the ways in which Socrates piety is proven is through his belief in the existence of the gods and holiness and his identification with their characteristics. In his conversation with Euthyphro, Socrates proves his belief in the existence of gods by acknowledging their existence. He explains that holiness cannot be something all the gods agree on since they often quarrel and mostly what one God believes in may not be accepted by all and thus discredits this description of piety by Euthyphro. This occurrence alone is one way to prove that Socrates is pious.
Euthyphro attempts to define piety as something that the gods approve of, but Socrates challenges Euthyphro by asking if holiness is approved of by the gods because it is holy or it is holy because it is permitted of by the gods? This encounter discredits the false accusations of Socrates’ impiety because despite not being conversant with their relationship understands that the gods and piety have a relationship. Socrates finally challenges Euthyphro’s idea of gratifying gods with gifts and getting some good things in return as it makes their relationship with humans look like it is of a commercial nature involving the exchange of goods and services.
Do we learn anything from reading Euthyphro that would support Socrates’ defense of himself against Meletus’ charge that he is not pious?
In Euthyphro, Socrates proves that he is pious when he shows his understanding of the existence of many deeds that one can do that are holy. This discredits Meletus’ accusation that Socrates is not pious and supports Socrates’ defense of himself against impiety. He challenges Euthyphro in a somewhat sarcastic way when he tells him that persecuting offenders is not the only good deed of piety that one can do after meeting him on his way to prosecute his father for unwilled manslaughter. In this occurrence, Socrates tries to show Euthyphro that piety involves justice and does not involve doing things blindly. Euthyphro knew that his father had no direct hand in the death of the worker who had killed his slave earlier and the worker’s family had not filed a case in court concerning the same as they did not believe that the worker died by the hand of Euthyphro’s father. Euthyphro rather than taking some time to reason if accusing his father is right being blinded by his goal to be viewed as pious by persecuting an offender, yet there are many other pious deeds he could do to prove his piety.
What does Socrates say during his trial in Apology that demonstrates his piety and /or shows that the accusations against him must be false?
Socrates impiety is not proven by any Athenians as no one can give an account of when he gave false teachings to the youth or charged a fee for it when he asks for a testimony concerning his crimes in Apology. Further in the Apology, no parent of the youth he has worked with accused him of any wrong thus deeming the accusations false. His belief proves Socrates’ piety despite his pride that the Oracle’s prophecy was a command from the god Apollo to bring to realization the lack of wisdom among those who think they have it in abundance such as the politicians who cannot explain some things they believe in. Socrates perceives that it is his duty to Apollo to bring to realization the lack of wisdom among Athenians.
Socrates piety is demonstrated during his trial in Apology when he says that he believes that divine inspiration guides poets as a result of their inability to explain their poems as well as the cradle from which they pull their knowledge of creating poems. This conclusion he makes in the Apology after making inquiries from poets regarding what their poems are about and they are unable to explain them.
Socrates spirituality is shown by his belief that an inner voice that guides him and keeps him safe from danger is from a supernatural source. Socrates believes that being inquisitive of things as well as ourselves is part of our journey towards being more truthful, holy and just in our lives as we can monitor and control our deeds. The piety of Socrates is also shown in his accreditation of the Gods’ guidance in his journey of seeking wisdom and truth filled justice as he says in the Apology. Socrates in his piety disapproves of the cruelty and inconsistence associated with the gods about some stories of the gods told by Athenians, for example, persecution of the Sky God by his son Cronus. Socrates instead believes that the gods have a just and fair nature. This he brings out in his defense in the Apology discrediting the accusations that he is impious.
In conclusion, Socrates motive of his inquisitiveness is to teach that religion does not involve simply accepting answers but also finding justification of the replies to give believers a deeper understanding of things in religion. Despite being accused of impiety, there was no proof of Socrates’ impiety but rather his desire to seek a deeper understanding of religion and its tenets. His experiences and persistence show his thirst to improve people’s way of life by seeking truth and justice to help make better choices in life, understand religion and cease to live reckless lives. Despite being persecuted, Socrates persisted in his mission towards seeking the truth which encourages us to be as pious, seeking truth- filled knowledge that will improve our lives and the choices we make.
