Plato's Socratic Method in Analyzing Irony
Plato's Socratic method is the analytical approach of analyzing irony in his dialogue Euthyphro. The iron is given in this scenario when Socrates pretends that Euthyphro is an ironist and attempts to confuse his reasoning for virtue, making him a self-ironist. The concept entails a definition of the word piety expressed in the form of an argumentative discourse (Futter n.p). In this case, Euthyphro is presenting a case involving his father, who is accused of murder. Socrates, on the other hand, is charged with poisoning the minds of youths and faces life in prison. In this dialogue, Socrates argues that Euthyphro actions suggest that he is an expert in matters concerning religion. He responds by saying that he knows all that requires being holy and ironically, Socrates suggests that Euthyphro should teach him about holiness and make him understand the concept so he could use it in his trial against Meletus.
Euthyphro's Dilemma: The Nature of Morality
The problem of Euthyphro dilemma, in this case, is presented through sought of the morality where God has the central role in explaining the nature of morality. In their conversation, Socrates and Euthyphro discuss the nature of piety concerning the actions of Euthyphro prosecuting his father on murders charges. While trying to defend himself on the understanding of this concept, Euthyphro claims that what is dear to God is pious. Socrates interjects claiming that gods are not always unified on what is dear to them since different gods reasons differently concerning how dear something is dear to them. He explains his understanding of what pious is claiming that it must be what that all gods love and what they hate is the opposite. The dilemma thus is presented when Socrates asks whether pious is being loved by the gods because it is holy or it is holy because it is loved by gods. These two questions have haunted the understanding of many ethicists as well as Euthyphro himself in this case who tries to make a strong connection between morality and the divine will (McGlothin 29).
Euthyphro's Dilemma: Monotheism vs Polytheism
In the case of Euthyphro and Socrates, dilemma seems to affect both the monotheist and polytheist. According to McGlothlin, Euthyphro presents himself as a devoted Monotheist who views God as the creator and the one who sustains all his creation (36). He claims that if God favors any statement or a claim that seems to be logic to us, then it becomes a valid argument. The argument thus implies that God only has good intentions and commands what he favors and therefore they possess a valid status in virtue of his favor. On the other hand, Socrates asks the monotheist whether logically valid arguments get their validity just because of God's virtue of favoring them or does God favor them because they are logically valid.
Reconciling Euthyphro's Dilemma in Christianity
There are ways in which Euthyphro dilemma can be reconciled for Christianity. One of these methods is through a narrative found in the tradition of Hebrews in the book Genesis where God commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son. The case provides a dilemma in which people may confuse the objective of various commands given to them by God, and the consequences of their obedience and also what might happen if they do not obey. The moral obligation imposed by God should be of concern without holding anything as of priority than the relationship they have with God. In this case, Abraham did not hesitate to perform the sacrifice not because Isaac deserved to die, but his expectations from God that he would later revive Isaac from death (Evans 191). There is a moral concern on the action of Abraham putting his son to death which may be vied as a moral wrong. On the other hand, it would also be wrong for Abraham to defy these instructions from God. The Christianity teaching on this kind of a dilemma is that in every moral obligation that God imposes to human beings, the intentions are not to ruin them suffer but to bring obedience to the commands given to them.
Works cited
Evans, Jeremy. A. The Problem of Evil: The challenge to Essential Christian Beliefs. Broadman & Holman Publishing Group, 2013.
Futter, Dylan Brian. “On Irony Interpretation: Socratic Method in Plato’s Euthyphro.” British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Vol. 21. 6, 2013, pp1030-1051. doi: 10.1080/09608788.2013. 853166.
McGlothlin, Ames .C. Thr Logiphro Dilemma: An Examination of the Relationship between God and LogiC. An Import of Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2017.
