The Piety: Dialogue Between Socrates and Euthyphro
Using the method of questioning everyone to seek out the truthy answer is the way Socrates did in Plato’s dialogues. How’s the questioning method help him to do self-examination? Does it like a tool to help him seek out the truth or prove he is the wisest man? As we can see, in the dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro, Socrates likes being a teacher, giving serious questions about piety to help Euthyphro to present and examine himself about his knowledge.
What is knowledge? Knowledge is when you own or expert in something. However, Socrates successfully proves Euthyphro is wrong because the more questions that Socrates asked, the more showing Euthyphro was inexpert. And I think this question is the hardest among those 'Do the gods love piety because it is pious, or is it pious because the gods love it?', which makes Euthyphro realize that his knowledge confuses himself, to prove he was an ignorant one that knows nothing about what piety is. The processing of three attempts that Euthyphro makes is self-examination and either justified that Socrates is a wisest because he states:” the wisest is the one knows he does not knowledgeable and able to recognize that ignorance of the others”.
Socrates’s skill in the argument which leads to the conversation ending without satisfying the question that Euthyphro failed to examine his knowledge is right. In the case of Apology, he continues questioning methods to investigate any potential conflict with that question. Instead of showing desperation in front of 500 jurors, he calms and explains his standing. He asked politicians, poets, and craftsmen, and it comes to the inevitable conclusion that none of them knew what they were doing. From this figure, we can say that Socrates is a make a strong argument which he uses those whose have power or position in society to give himself a good standing because he knows what he does, and it’s a good thing, but they don’t - “If one asks them what he does and what teaches to corrupt them, they are silent, as they do not know”.
“Teaching them not to believe in the gods in whom the city believes but on other new spiritual things?” or “whether you mean that do not believe in gods at all”. Instead of answering the question that has been asked, he questions back to Meletus which is the purpose to show for the jurors that he going to define the truth, and details to explain his position. By asking questions, Socrates ultimately reveals the contractions embedded in Meletus’s claim.
