IH 0851 Lecture 3: Plato Euthyphro Study Guide
4 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
If you"ve never read anything by plato, this may seem a bit strange. Plato liked to write dialogues in which various characters from athens discussed important issues with. Usually socrates takes the role of a spoiler, forcing his interlocutors to question their assertions, prejudices, and values. The characters are wrestling with questions related to the origin of our moral values. That"s what"s at stake for euthyphro and socrates in the dialogue, and it"s also what"s at stake for us, the readers. Another way of looking at this text is that it"s asking us to focus on how a community establishes right and wrong, the moral from the immoral. Plato"s text connects in profound ways to hayden white"s discussion insofar as white, like plato, is invested in an inquiry into how any narrative is shaped by the cultural values held by the narrator. As you read this dialogue, don"t get bogged down in the spots that are difficult to follow.
