The Persuasiveness of Socrates’ Argument in Phaedo That the Philosopher “Should Be Cheerful in the Face of Death”.
A philosopher, by definition, is a lover of wisdom. He conducts himself and does only things that can bring about the attainment of what he loves – true wisdom; not the passions and appetites to which the body is prone to.
True wisdom which Plato calls the Form, is not physical as the body is. Since the body, with its appetitive and passionate characteristics, militates against the contemplation of the Form (which results in the attainment of the Philosopher’s quest – true wisdom) death, the liberation of the soul, becomes a rite of passage into the everlasting enjoyment of that true wisdom. So, if the philosophers are lovers of wisdom, and if the true wisdom is invisible as the soul and if death liberates or separates the body from the soul so that the soul now has unlimited access to true wisdom, then the philosopher ought to be cheerful in the face of death because he is about to gain the everlasting reward.
To begin, I would like to state emphatically that by my understanding and reasoning, I agree with Socrates’ argument in Phaedo, which points to the fact that the philosopher “should be cheerful in the face of death”. This paper will then go on to show why I think what he says holds water and why I agree with him.
In 64a, Socrates tells Simmias and Cebes that people who take philosophy as a serious discipline and apply themselves totally to it, are in all manners of speaking preparing themselves for “dying and death”. This implies that if what he has stated above is true, then the philosopher needs not to fear death because he has been preparing and has been actually looking forward to that experience. I find this idea and notion very true because from the little I know about philosophy, it is about thinking of things that people do not usually pay attention to, and this includes issues like life after death and what that holds in store for us. Most people only come to the realization of thinking about life after death when they are on their death
True wisdom which Plato calls the Form, is not physical as the body is. Since the body, with its appetitive and passionate characteristics, militates against the contemplation of the Form (which results in the attainment of the Philosopher’s quest – true wisdom) death, the liberation of the soul, becomes a rite of passage into the everlasting enjoyment of that true wisdom. So, if the philosophers are lovers of wisdom, and if the true wisdom is invisible as the soul and if death liberates or separates the body from the soul so that the soul now has unlimited access to true wisdom, then the philosopher ought to be cheerful in the face of death because he is about to gain the everlasting reward.
To begin, I would like to state emphatically that by my understanding and reasoning, I agree with Socrates’ argument in Phaedo, which points to the fact that the philosopher “should be cheerful in the face of death”. This paper will then go on to show why I think what he says holds water and why I agree with him.
In 64a, Socrates tells Simmias and Cebes that people who take philosophy as a serious discipline and apply themselves totally to it, are in all manners of speaking preparing themselves for “dying and death”. This implies that if what he has stated above is true, then the philosopher needs not to fear death because he has been preparing and has been actually looking forward to that experience. I find this idea and notion very true because from the little I know about philosophy, it is about thinking of things that people do not usually pay attention to, and this includes issues like life after death and what that holds in store for us. Most people only come to the realization of thinking about life after death when they are on their death
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