Head Up in the Clouds

Yesterday, on one our three flights from Brussels to Amarillo, my daughter was looking out the window and remarked as we passed through a large cloud, "Whoaah! That was a big cloud! Papa, look, there must be billions of clouds out there." Billions being the latest unit of measurement that she has latched on to.

But, there I was, with my head in the clouds, thinking about things like, "How will I feel when I return to Amarillo with my daughter this time as so much in my life has changed?" Or, "Will I be ready for the major heat shock, much less culture shock, going from nearly 50 degrees Fahrenheit to about 100..." "Will it be a good preparation for India?" "What will I blog about...? and so on.

Socrates brings up a well-known satire of himself, penned by Aristophanes in his comedy, "The Clouds" and says to the jury, that he is a busy-body, ζητων τα τε υπο γησ και ουρανα, investigating the things under the earth and heaven, depicted as an aloof and aloft fool, being carried about by the clouds, not walking the earth. Further perhaps, could not be from the truth.

When Socrates heard the oracle's prophetic announcement that none were wiser than Socrates, he set out on foot, as he was wont to walk barefoot through the streets of Athens, to talk with the man on the streets. Most of his philosophy deals with talking about cobblers and horses, much to the disdain of "true philosophers," who talk about much loftier thoughts, such as ethics and whatnot. Though, ethics is simply, that which we do on a daily basis, and who does that more than then next person? We all have our own ethics.

Socrates, as portrayed in the dialogs of Plato, at least, would often begin his discourses by asking his interlocutor whether he had the time, or scholia, to talk. Scholia originately meant leisure time, as who had time to sit around and talk about such head-in-the-clouds things? Places to go, people to see. Except Socrates, because his scholia, or scholarship, was to talk to people, asking them questions, irking them.

Before Socrates enters the law courts, he is hanging out on the steps of the court and along comes Euthyphro, a man of high repute for things religious and pious amongst his fellow Athenians. Euthyphro is in a hurry, he is the prosecutor for a high-profile law case. As we soon find out, he is taking his aged father to court on the charge of murder by neglect of a slave, who died under the custody of his father, and who had in turn had murdered another one of his slaves in a drunken argument.

Socrates asks Euthyphro if he indeed has the scholia, or free time to chat about the nature of Peity and Holiness. Euthyphro is annoyed because he is late for his case. Socrates, however, is asking him about what then is Holy? Euthyphro says that he does not have the time to educate Socrates on such matters, because the are too complicated.

Soctates leads the questions towards whether Euthyphro feels quite confident to condemn a man, his own father, to death, based on what he, Euthyphro thinks is the will of the Gods, but as is clear, he can't even answer the simplest questions about what he indeed thinks is "holy" or "pious" or "loved by the gods." Euthyphro, who doesn't have time for such questions, leaves in a huff, irked and annoyed by Socrates and goes into the court to carry out the prosecution, which will soon be followed by Socrates' own trial, which presumably is next on the docket.