Publisher's Synopsis
Euthyphro is one of Plato's early dialogues, dated to after 399 BC. Taking place during the weeks leading up to Socrates's trial, the dialogue features Socrates and Euthyphro, a religious expert also mentioned at Cratylus 396a and 396d, attempting to define piety or holiness. The argument of this dialogue is based largely on "definition by division". Socrates goads Euthyphro to offer one definition after another for the word 'piety'. The hope is to use a clear definition as the basis for Euthyphro to teach Socrates the answer to the question, "What is piety?", ostensibly so that Socrates can use this to defend himself against the charge of impiety. It is clear that Socrates wants a definition of piety that will be universally true (i.e., a 'universal'), against which all actions can be measured to determine whether or not they are pious. It is equally clear that to be universal, the definition must express what is essential about the thing defined, and be in terms of genus, species, and its differentiae (this terminology is somewhat later than Socrates, made more famous with Aristotle).
