Socrates

Socrates

Socrates had a number of arguments on immortality. However, I do not think that any of them are convincing enough. This is because the arguments talk about the soul of a human being after death. Socrates had a theory that death is just a separation of the body from the soul. He talks about death from a philosopher’s point of view and says that when a philosopher dies his soul is purified. He says that the purification occurs when the separation between the body and the soul occurs, or when one dies. This serves as one o the reasons why he does not seem afraid of death nor does he complain about it. Another argument that Socrates puts through is the argument that a person should rise above their physical nature in order to gain true knowledge.

Even though Socrates’ arguments fall on many deaf ears, to these ears there just might be a piece of information that might be relevant. In the Phaedo, his friends actually have a strong argument with him and suggest that the soul might actually die. He tells them that if a person detaches himself from pleasures of the earth, their souls are actually freed to follow the gods into Hades. On the other hand, if they fully attach themselves to the activities and pleasures of the earth, they would make their body and soul attach themselves together and therefore the soul shall not go. He theorized that the soul should be left on the earth with the body as the desires of the physical pleasures increase (Ahrensdorf, 1995).

In my opinion, the soul lives on after the body dies but does not acquire another body to exist in. my opinion is based on the belief that there is q defined Supreme Being who runs the occurrences of the universe. Socrates lived in Greece. There gods were imperfect and had faults just like humans and were undefined. This situation led Socrates, in search of his own answers to the puzzles of life, theorize answers that fitted his personal likes and beliefs. These answers, which were in form of theories, although quite wrong, gathered the trust of many a people until some time after the fall of the Greek and Roman Empires. Though his theories about immortality were of his age, they continue to attract a strong following until today.

In the apology, Socrates is being tried for not believing in the gods and influencing others to do the same. While on trial, he actually tells the jurors that they were doing the wrong thing trying him. He tells them that they should be more concerned about their souls than their families, careers or political responsibilities. Socrates also believed that the gods had appointed him a divine emissary. This provoked and annoyed the Greek leadership and at the same time garnered some votes for him in the hearts of many. To those who did not believe Socrates, his words, theories and teachings should act as pieces of knowledge and alternative schools of thought in the solving of the mystery of life and death (Ahrensdorf, 1995).

Since no one is certain which argument is true, the religious people, I being one of them, the atheists and the Socrates believers, should accept every piece of information about the issue of life ad death and ponder upon it. The choice on what to believe, I believe is a personal one and one should do it alone. The only way one would come to a valuable and satisfying conclusion, I believe, is by the acquisition of vast knowledge on various schools of thought interpreting it and then making a sound judgment and conclusion afterwards. Socrates simply gave the world his version of the story and since there are many others, those who do not believe him have a wide variety of options to select.

References:

 Ahrensdorf, P. J. (1995). The death of Socrates and the life of philosophy: an interpretation of Plato’s Phaedo. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.