Euthyphro

Summary Socrates encounters Euthyphro outside the court of Athens. Socrates has been called to court on charges of impiety by Meletus, and Euthyphro has come to prosecute his own father for having unintentionally killed a murderous hired hand. Socrates flatters Euthyphro, suggesting that Euthyphro must be a great expert in religious matters if he is willing to prosecute his own father on so questionable a charge. Euthyphro concurs that he does indeed know all there …

…of the dialogue is the irony Socrates has been employing throughout. He leaves in a huff as it dawns on him that Socrates has made a fool of him. Perhaps in the future, Euthyphro will be more wary of claiming certain knowledge of things. Perhaps he will be more concerned with careful thought and investigation, with humbler yet more accurate claims to knowledge. This, more than any particular doctrine, is what Socrates had to teach.