The origin of Philosophy

The origin of philosophy or the beginning of philosophy and the question of piety are the same. What do we owe the past without which we would not even exist? We owe the past everything. In part that carries a portion of the reason Socrates would not leave Athens despite the guilty verdict. This act by Socrates presents us with the two pronged issue of piety. While he was old fashioned in his dedication to his city, he was entirely new in that city. He chose the pursuit of knowledge and self control of immense desire over any other good. Tom Brady in an interview I saw said, "Is this all there is?" This highlights Socrates' point. It would be no different if Tom Brady chose to stop making millions and winning football games and chose instead to be satisfied not with fame for winning games and dating famous and beautiful women but rather chose the greater competition of being good or just in every way he could possibly be. This would be something new in this United States of America today. Perhaps the point would be that the old and new are not mutually exclusive. That is, perhaps "this is all there is?" comes from a mistake of possibilities. What Socrates shows is not the mindlessness of obedience or the foolishness of rebellion but rather how they meet in one beautiful, good or just life.

Are Philosophy and Piety the same?

Reading Plato’s Euthyphro raises the question of tradition and what’s new. Euthyphro and Socrates both have something new about them. Through these two characters Plato seems to purposely juxtapose as similar and different philosophy and what in today’s terms would be called a religious man. Euthyphro is a diviner. The Greek word would not be “religious” but pious, holy, or righteous. So I ask again, what is piety? What is philosophy? Are they the same?