He believes that if one is confident in their beliefs (on high issues such as how to live life) and wisdom, one will tend not to examine them. When you lose that confidence you will become more open to new ideas and a new way of looking at things. .
Socrates, through his conversations with politicians, artisans, poets and Euthyphro; destroys their confidence in their prior beliefs and their confidence in the idea that they themselves are wise. Because of the fact that he proves that if you think you are wise you are ignorant, he makes many enemies. By questioning his peers and analyzing their answers he inturn can disprove most of their statements and uncover their ignorance. .
In Euthyprho, the question of piety comes into light. Euthyphro is about to prosecute his father of a murder because he believes it is the "pious- thing to do. Euthyphro is asked for a definiton of piety and he states that, "holy is what gods love- (Plato 12). By analyzing this statement, Socrates inquires of Euthyphro if gods tend to have violent disagreements such as we do about right and wrong. Euthyphro agrees that indeed gods do have disagreements such as people do. Socrates then proceeds to say that if gods have violent disagreements then they must disagree about right and wrong or holy and unholy. There are certain disagreements that can be peacefully resolved. Some of these could be the weight or size of an object, because it can be measured or weighed for a resolution. Some disagreements lead to quarrels because right and wrong (holy and unholy) cannot be resolved in this way or form. Therefore Euthyphro's statement that "holy is what gods love- is disproved by Socrates. He makes Euthyphro look foolish because Euthyphro believed prosecution was the "pious- thing to do to a murderous father, yet he could not define piety when asked.
Part C Question 3.
What makes a republic wise, brave, moderate and just? These four virtues can be easily applied to the community co-founded by Socrates.
