Abstract
Young Euthyphro meets Socrates on the steps of the courthouse. Euthyphro’s father was punishing a slave who inadvertently died. Euthyphro believes this is stone cold murder and is determined to bring his father to justice in court. Socrates asks him a basic question of motivation, “Why are you doing what you are doing?” So begins a series of exchanges in which Socrates attempts to plumb the depths of Euthyphro’s motives. Students discuss questions such as, Are we always aware of why we’re doing what we’re doing? Are our motives rational? How do our emotions influence our motives? Students also read sections of the introductory text dealing with various theories of human motivation in psychology.
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References
Futter, D. B. (2013). On irony interpretation: Socratic method in Plato’s Euthyphro. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 21(6), 1030–1051.
Griggs, R. A. (2014). Psychology: A concise introduction (4th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.
Hull, C. (1951). Essentials of behavior. New Haven, CT: Yale University.
Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
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Dillon, J.J. (2016). Teaching Motivation and Emotion Psychology with Euthyphro . In: Teaching Psychology and the Socratic Method. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95050-8_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95050-8_18
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95049-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95050-8
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