Socrates & the Afterlife
Socrates & the Afterlife
The realization of death did not leave Socrates in any state of sorrow but rather gave him hope and happiness that he would soon be moving further onto what he believed was the path of the soul. Socrates had no fear of death because he believed specifically in the afterlife and that the soul left the body and moved on to the next phase in life. Socrates states that there are many pathways a soul can follow after death; all depending on how a person acted during life will determine where the go and what happens to their soul. The description of Socrates’ earth is that of a place where gods and men alike can converse and it is a lot like heaven described in Christianity. Many people believe in the same types of ideas about what happens after a person dies; their soul departs and takes upon a whole new journey. Personally my beliefs are similar to what Socrates describes; Christianity and other such religions often depict a lake of fire where the sinners of life have come to pay for the evil they have committed during their lives. Socrates also describes different levels of the afterlife that a soul would get to go to redeem their place in the purer earth where they get to live but to get there one must have been pure in virtue and wisdom in physical life. Socrates describes that he feels a great hope that something like this is true and this is how he gives himself comfort before drinking the poison as his sentence. My belief that a person’s soul departs their body and goes through many paths; it is my opinion that the soul goes directly to wherever it is they have earned their place and that is where they spend the rest of eternity. Had there been a way to converse with Socrates and ask him a question, it would be difficult to come up with just one question; however asking about the afterlife opens up a whole array of thought processes. I would ask Socrates if living a life by philosophy gains a higher position in
The realization of death did not leave Socrates in any state of sorrow but rather gave him hope and happiness that he would soon be moving further onto what he believed was the path of the soul. Socrates had no fear of death because he believed specifically in the afterlife and that the soul left the body and moved on to the next phase in life. Socrates states that there are many pathways a soul can follow after death; all depending on how a person acted during life will determine where the go and what happens to their soul. The description of Socrates’ earth is that of a place where gods and men alike can converse and it is a lot like heaven described in Christianity. Many people believe in the same types of ideas about what happens after a person dies; their soul departs and takes upon a whole new journey. Personally my beliefs are similar to what Socrates describes; Christianity and other such religions often depict a lake of fire where the sinners of life have come to pay for the evil they have committed during their lives. Socrates also describes different levels of the afterlife that a soul would get to go to redeem their place in the purer earth where they get to live but to get there one must have been pure in virtue and wisdom in physical life. Socrates describes that he feels a great hope that something like this is true and this is how he gives himself comfort before drinking the poison as his sentence. My belief that a person’s soul departs their body and goes through many paths; it is my opinion that the soul goes directly to wherever it is they have earned their place and that is where they spend the rest of eternity. Had there been a way to converse with Socrates and ask him a question, it would be difficult to come up with just one question; however asking about the afterlife opens up a whole array of thought processes. I would ask Socrates if living a life by philosophy gains a higher position in
References: Moore, B. N., & Bruder, K. (2011) Philosophy: The power of ideas. (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Plato, & Jowett, B. B. (1901). Phaedo. In , Dialogues of Plato: With analyses and introductions, Vol 1 (pp. 363-447). Charles Scribner 's Sons. doi:10.1037/13728-011