Socrates’ discussion with Euthyphro seems to go in a circle.
philosophy
Description
PHILOSOPHY 100 (FALL 2019)
Instructor: Jeff Lawrence
ESSAY #1
DUE DATE
Wednesday, October 2nd at the beginning of class.
DIRECTIONS
Address the following topic in a short essay. Ideally, your essay should not exceed
1200 words (approximately 4 pages double-spaced with 12-point font and at least
one-inch margins). You can go a bit over this limit, but please be reasonable!
TOPIC
Socrates’ discussion with Euthyphro seems to go in a circle. What, then, is the point of
this kind of dialectical discussion? In your essay, please address the following question:
Is there significant progress in the Euthypho dialogue? Yes or no?
In the first half or so of the paper, please explain why you take a positive or
negative position. Notice that to do this, you’ll need to be clear about the nature
of progress and its relation to some specific goal or end in view.
Then, in the second half of the paper, raise an objection to your position. What
might a critic say about your argument? Don’t pick just any objection; it should be
strong. Outline and explain this objection in a short paragraph, and then respond
to the objection in the remainder of the paper
Please note that this is a “big picture” topic that does not require a lot of detailed analysis
of the specific Euthyphro arguments. You can reference specific points of the discussion,
but this should be with an eye to defending your general claims about the merits (or lack
thereof) of Socratic dialectic.
