CIE100: Common Intellectual Experience - Euthyphro Writing Prompt (10 Points)

Assignment Goals

The goals of this assignment are:
  1. To reflect upon the course texts in preparation for thoughtful discussion
  2. To organize thoughts into a concise and cohesive response to a targeted question
  3. To consider multiple viewpoints about ideas

The Assignment

In this writing prompt, you will consider the questions below and respond by writing a short dialogue between yourself and a figure from, or behind, the text, equivalent in substance to a 1-2 paragraph response (script formatting means this will usually run a bit longer on the page, and that is fine). Quote the text at least once within the exchange, and give the other voice a genuine counterargument, supported by a quote of its own, rather than an easy target. Submit your dialogue through Canvas before the start of class.

UDL choice: this genre is the default for this reading, but you may swap in any of the five response genres (analytic, letter, dialogue, marginalia+aphorism, or the Four A’s) as long as the quote and counterargument requirements are met.

Struggling with the reading itself? See the guide: How to Read Hard Texts in CIE.

Writing Prompt

  1. Socrates asks Euthyphro whether the pious is loved by the gods because it is pious, or whether it is pious because it is loved by the gods. Restate this dilemma in your own words, and explain why each horn of it troubles Euthyphro’s confidence. Why does the dialogue end without an answer, and what do you think Plato wants us to take from that?

  2. Apply the dilemma to a modern authority whose judgments you generally trust: the law, a platform’s community guidelines, a religious tradition, your parents, or even an AI assistant. Is an action right because the authority approves of it, or does the authority approve of it because it is right? Give a concrete example where the two come apart, and discuss what that gap demands of you.

Submission

Submit a word processed or PDF document.

Please refer to the Style Guide for code quality examples and guidelines.