Even in a secular society like ours, it is important to conceptualize a set of universal values that can be codified in doctrines of human rights and freedoms. These universal human values and ethics can therefore undergird social norms and laws, preventing recourse to superstition and religion as excuses for human rights abuses. As modern society shifts towards a new moral order based on secular values rather than on religious doctrine, the concept of piety as it is elucidated in Plato’s Euthyphro is the most important concept to be integrated into the Socratic Citizenship Initiative.
In Plato’s Euthyphro, both Socrates and Euthyphro exemplify the need for a universal moral order, one that transcends either church or state. At one point in Euthyphro, Socrates cryptically questions, “is it that where there is piety, there is also justice, but piety is not everywhere justice is, since piety is a part of justice?” (d). Socrates here illustrates the need to differentiate between religious piety on the one hand, and universal ethics or justice, on the other. If piety is a “part of justice,” then clearly justice supersedes piety; piety is subordinate to justice.
Neither Socrates nor Euthyphro place much credence in the canon of established Greek gods, insisting instead in a moral order that is more humanitarian and logical in nature. Socrates is about to go on trial for blasphemy, for “I am a maker of gods, and because I make novel gods and do not acknowledge the old ones,” (b). Socrates is an iconoclast, like many in the modern world who dare to question the status quo whether that be patriarchy or neoliberalism.
Given Euthyphro’s own inability to clearly define piety, and Socrates’s likewise lackluster attempt to do the same, Plato suggests that spiritual piety is a matter of personal choice, but that morality is a matter of the public good. Ultimately, Euthyphro believes in what he is doing, and Socrates also believes in his own righteousness.
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