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How Did Socrates Prepare For Death In Plato's Apology

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In Plato’s Phaedo, Socrates is preparing for his death following his trial in Plato’s Apology. He engages in an discussion with Simmias and Cebes about why death should be important to all philosophers. When he begins this discussion, Socrates compares the relationship between the soul and body to a person being imprisoned. He builds upon this analogy as he identifies the soul and body as two separate entities. The soul being divine, immortal, and pure, while the body is compository, susceptible to death, and impure. His interlocutors take issue with the assumption that the soul continues to exist after death, but I will not. Upon making these distinctions, Socrates explains that the pursuit of knowledge, or wisdom, should be the life goal …show more content…

He describes how it is “better at certain times and for certain people to die than to live . . . those from whom it is better to die . . . must wait for someone else to benefit them” (62a). In this description, Socrates alludes to death not being a choice for ourselves to make, but a choice that our “owner” (the gods) has to make. The example Socrates provides is humans beings belonging to the gods, thus we must carry out their wishes and wait until they are ready for us to die. In short, suicide and self-violence are not the ways a true philosopher should die. This dialogue introduces why death is significant. If one assumes that there is such a thing as death, then “[death is] . . . the separation of the soul from the body” (64c). At this point, it is agreed by Socrates, Simmias, Cebes, and myself that the soul and body are two separate entities and can be separated. The distinctions that Socrates makes between the two will be discussed further on in this paper, and the effect those distinctions have on Socrates’ and my arguments. Before death occurs, the soul is “in a kind of prison, and that one must not free oneself or run away [from]”, which is what Socrates considers the body to be, a prison (62b). During a human life, the body and soul are together with the soul providing the body life and the body imprisoning the soul. Socrates …show more content…

Despite their being an extensive argument on whether or not the soul is immortal, I will agree with Socrates that the soul exists after death. The objection presented by Cebes and Simmias asserts that the soul scatters with the wind, but Socrates explains how the body dies while soul continues existing in an “In-Between” state, as I will call it. It is during that time, he claims, that the soul gains knowledge and is in its purest form. Now, the issue is not whether the soul exists after the destruction of the body, but if the soul is capable of actively acquiring knowledge during this time. Although he presents several arguments to show the soul is learning after death, he does not definitively prove that soul is learning during this “In-between” state nor does he entertain other plausible reasons for how the soul acquires

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Another question that is left unanswered is where or how the souls obtained the knowledge if inquiry is not a factor. We also do not have proof that the souls actually exist- and we are basing that off of the assumption that Socrates’ is correct. His response loops us back around to the initial issue, and in term it may even create it’s own paradox. He believes that the soul is immortal, and has lived many lives and learned things and has true beliefs, but does not answer the question of how we know if those beliefs are absolutely true or not.

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At the end of Book I of Plato’s Republic, Socrates attempts to persuade Thrasymachus that the just lead a happier and more flourishing life than the unjust (354a). He argues that justice is the virtue of the soul, which allows the soul to perform its ergon, or function, with excellence. Because the soul’s function is to live, justice allows the soul to live with excellence. In this paper, I shall present and critically examine Socrates’ reasoning behind this conclusion. The argument subtly commits the fallacy of equivocation because the term function is ambiguous.

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After being sentenced to death, he doesn’t fear from the unknown and instead thinks that death can also be a blessing from god to be away from evil on the earth. Furthermore he says that death can be like taking a trip to another place to get rid of the fake people. Also, it would be not smart to fear about life after death when you are actually alive. Socrates rather chooses to treat the death as a grace of the god and believes that a good person gets good blessings whether he or she is alive or dead. Also the reasoning at the end of the quotes shows his philosophy that an assumption cannot be always predicted correct or accurate if it is not proved in

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The author of Death of Socrates is by a greek philosopher, Plato. This type of entry can be a type of journal or story. The intended audience for Death of Socrates are those learning about Greece, or those interested in Socrates. This story can infer to readers that the main purpose is to inform readers of Socrates’ brave acceptance towards his death punishment. Plato wants readers to know if Socrates deserved the death penalty for his teachings.

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However, the number three cannot ever be even for it holds a natural form of oddity that cannot be changed, the same is found with immortality. A soul cannot admit to death, which is the opposite of its essence immortality just as the number three cannot admit to being even. Leading to Plato’s conclusion of how a soul then must have to retreat, connecting back to Socrates believing death is best characterized by the soul separating from

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Phaedo – the existence and nature of the afterlife and the immortality and reincarnation of the soul Phaedo revolves around Socrates discussion of the existence and nature of the afterlife. One of the overarching themes in Phaedo is the soul’s immorality. The dialogue between Socrates and his friends/philosophers discusses four arguments for the immortality of the soul to illustrate the concept of the afterlife where the soul supposedly goes after we die. The four

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Is Death a Blessing? Thinking Critically about Socrates’ Argument in Apology In the piece of work, Apology, Socrates argues whether death is a blessing or not and why he believes it to be true. After examining this argument thoroughly, we decided that Socrates makes a good inductive argument about death being a blessing. While writing this paper, we have evidence that the argument is inductive because it is his opinion that death is actually a blessing.

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Young people loved Socrates, “the invitation to think for themselves drew them to him, and parents feared the new and revolutionary doctrines that the might learn. He was judge by 501 citizens and condemn to death by a margin of 60, he could have exercised his legal privilege of proposing for a lower sentence and called for a vote on that, he instead insisted on being rational. Socrates spent his last night discussing philosophy with his young friends and pupils; the subject was life after death, he kept his mind open during the discussion and did no let his emotions influence his mind and thinking. Then hours before he drink the cup of poison his friends prepared themselves for the death of Socrates, soon after he drank the hemlock and minutes later he close his eyes.

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Socrates is quoted as stating, “An unexamined life is a life not worth living” (38 a). Socrates was a founding figure of western philosophy, and a stable for many ideas. He lived in Athens, Greece teaching his students, like Plato, questioning politics, ethical choices, and many other things in Greek society. In the Trial and death of Socrates: Four Dialogues by Plato, it explores the abstract questioning Socrates had towards many of the normal social properties, which led to his trial, resulting in his death. The most important aspects discussed in the dialogues is the questioning of what is pious and impious, what it means to be wise, and good life.

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Socrates in the dialogue Alcibiades written by Plato provides an argument as to why the self is the soul rather than the body. In this dialogue Alcibiades and Socrates get into a discussion on how to cultivate the self which they both mutually agree is the soul, and how to make the soul better by properly taking care of it. One way Socrates describes the relationship between the soul and the body is by analogy of user and instrument, the former being the entity which has the power to affect the latter. In this paper I will explain Socrates’ arguments on why the self is the soul and I will comment on what it means to cultivate it.

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“How you have felt, O men of Athens, at hearing the speeches of my accusers, I cannot tell; but I know that their persuasive words almost made me forget who I was – such was effect of them; and yet they have hardly spoken a word of truth” (Plato, 399 BC). The Apology recorded by Plato has implicated what Socrates had communicated during his defense to the judges and his accusers. Socrates was ridiculed and charges brought forth to him for corrupting the youth and for his rejection of the city’s deities. In Socrates speech to his accusers and to the judges, he preserves his beliefs in all that he is and that he does and is willing to accept the penalty that is placed upon him, which is death.

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Socrates’ original argument was not valid or sound. The premises were corrected but the argument needed another premise to make the conclusion true. Adding premise two takes away any confusion there was to what immortality meant. Since Socrates’ spent almost the entire book creating a just person and a just city the information about what is good and bad for a soul makes sense. It also makes sense that those things cannot destroy the soul because injustice and other vices could only lead the body to make poor choices and possibly get sick or die from those poor choices.

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By death what he means is not an event, but a death in life. Because there’s no rebirth, there’s no changes, there’s not transformation without death” (West, 1). What does Plato mean by death in life? How can you die but continue living? To die in life relates to killing the past, close-minded, non-accepting version of yourself: Without this death, you will not achieve your true potential.

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