Socratic Piety and the State

Abstract

This goal of this thesis is to examine the connection between piety and the city-state according to the Socrates of Plato’s dialogues. This thesis first sets out to understand Socrates’ piety. Then, through consideration of Socrates’ discussion of piety in the city-state in the Euthyphro, the Apology, the Symposium, and the Republic, this thesis sets out to outline Socrates’ understanding of the role piety ought to play in the just city-state. Based on my reading of these dialogues, I argue that piety is, for Plato’s Socrates, a necessary component of the just city-state.