Philisophical Examinaiton of Plato's Dialogues
Philisophical Examinaiton of Plato's Dialogues
In Plato’s dialogues, Euthyphro, Apology and Crito, Socrates demonstrates his belief that “the most important thing is not life, but the good life”(Crito 48b). Socrates believed that a good life is equivalent to one that is just and honorable. The good life is also one where the beliefs and morals of a person are not put aside in order to save one’s own life and wealth should not be desired. The true purpose of philosophy is not to give answers to questions but to raise more questions to the answers given. By doing so, Socrates teaches or at least suggests the idea of living a good, moral, honorable, and just life to his friends and his fellow Athenians.
Socrates is portrayed as a religious man who spent most of his life obedient to what he believed was a divine being. He had a profound faith in the spiritual meaning of life as well as the belief in God as the source of a person’s morals. Acting in accord with the voice that he hears, Socrates was accustomed to do what he believed was right and would not leave this way of life in order to save his own life. In Euthyphro, Socrates raises the question of “What is piety?” to see if Euthyphro is as wise as he claimed to be. After various answers, Socrates exposes the shallowness of his claim. Euthyphro believed in piety in terms of religion as a relationship between gods and men. This relationship is by the means of giving and receiving. This is what Euthyphro meant when he said that “what is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious” (Euthyphro 7a). Also he replies that making something dear to the gods is by attending to their wishes by making sacrifices and offering prayers. Socrates disagrees with Euthyphro’s differentiation between service to the gods and service to men. He does so because he does not believe that a person’s duty towards a divine being should be separate from his duty to his fellow man. Also the purpose of religion, instead of it being a tool in order to get something one wants, should be to bring harmony between a person’s life and God’s will. Socrates believes that religion and morality are very closely...