Fear Of Death In Socrates The Apology

In “The Apology,” Socrates, on trial and about to be sentenced to death, controversially said that “those who fear death are guilty of thinking they know something when they do not.”Socrates makes this claim on the grounds that death may be a blessing and that there are worse things than death, such as dishonor. Socrates’ main point is that those who fear death do so because they believe they know certainly that it will be the greatest of evils. They believe wholeheartedly that it is painful, full of suffering, or not as pleasant as their current life. Socrates, after being sentenced to death, believes that he is not worried about it because there is a possibility death will be pleasant. For several reasons and possibilities, Socrates is

The first assumption he makes is that fear is rooted in certainty. In reality, the opposite tends to be true. The fear of uncertainty itself and the anxiety that comes with the unfamiliar is often more intense than the fear of death or dying. This fear is compounded by the fact that death, and the afterlife, is, in most western ideologies, including Socrates’s, a state that lasts infinitely. Additionally, in many other cases, we see fear originating from a place of uncertainty, rather than certainty. One may fear giving a speech because they are uncertain of the reaction the audience will have. They may fear all spiders because they are uncertain of which ones are venomous and which ones are not. More often than not, fear is due to the anticipation of something that is unfamiliar, and therefore is more likely to arise from uncertainty rather than certainty. One fault here is trying to rationalize an emotion that often has no basis in pure logical thinking. Socrates is correct in saying that the afterlife and death can be blissful. However, when faced with uncertainty, the possible outcomes that are hyper fixated on will vary from person to person. Socrates, in this situation, is quite optimistic about the afterlife, choosing to focus and imagine the most ideal scenarios, when in reality, others will imagine more daunting

Perhaps that is simply due to a difference in worldview. Additionally, he would say that it essentially boils down to the idea that the open-mindedness that comes with studying philosophy would help alleviate or even “cure” a fear of death. Though it may not take absolute certainty to be fearful of death perhaps, on the opposite side of the spectrum, it is the complete open-mindedness that one attains through the study of philosophy that stops the fear of death. The ability to conceive of and equally consider all possibilities, rather than fixating on either the bad or good — this is the same philosopher who said “everything in moderation, including moderation — will get rid of the fear of