Socrates The Myth Of Er

The Myth of Er concerns the issue of what happens to us after death. What Socrates is trying to sum up, which he has been mentioning through out the entire book, is that we should all live a wise, strenuous, and philosophical way of life. Socrates’ tale is for people from all walks of life, he only wants us to pursue a just way of life. The way it correlates to politics is that he wants people that hold a high status is politics to make sure they are just in the decisions they make for their people, because they will have to pay for it in the afterlife. The tale is obviously a lie and its only intention is to scare people. The number one way to motivate a large population to listen is through fear, and it’s pretty obvious that this myth is
If a person who holds a high political status and truly believes in this tale, he or she would want his people to follow the moral of the story and strive to become better people. Not only would they impose this among their peoples, they would follow it for themselves. From the point of view of a politician with great power, it is very easy to take advantage of your peoples and gain resources, wealth, and power for your own benefits. Now if a politician had a firm belief in this tale they wouldn’t want a guilty conscience, because he would have to pay ten fold for each sin that he commits. This way the society is based on trust. The citizens of that political system can trust in their political leader to make decisions that will benefit the society. This myth is also aimed at people that are peasants in this society. For instance, if a peasant decided to live a just life with out committing any crimes, maybe in the next life they will be able to choose a better life. The same goes for someone that holds a high position in society. For instance, one must ask themselves is a lifetime of wealth, prosperity, and power not enough? That is why maybe in the next life they might choose something that is a lot more humble. “For the most part the choice was made according to the habituation of their former life.” (Plato P. 302) What Socrates was really trying to say with this statement is in the next life we should be choosing the better life for ourselves, not the life that is easier or empty. The only way we can make an educated decision is through wisdom. Hence, that our souls are immortal and knowledge is only recollection. It’s a system of false hope and fear. Which leads me to my next point: the contradictions and lies behind the