Socrates vs. Euthyphro – The Search for True Piety

This video summarizes Plato’s dialogue Euthyphro — a fascinating philosophical exchange between Socrates and Euthyphro, set just outside an Athenian court. Socrates faces charges of impiety and corrupting the youth, while Euthyphro is there to prosecute his own father for murder, believing it to be the pious thing to do.

Through Socrates’ signature Socratic questioning, the two explore the true meaning of piety (holiness) and impiety, testing ideas such as “what is loved by the gods.” As the conversation unfolds, Socrates exposes contradictions in Euthyphro’s reasoning, revealing the difficulty of defining moral and religious virtue.

The dialogue ends without resolution, as Euthyphro departs—leaving viewers to ponder Socrates’ timeless question: What does it really mean to be pious?