Phaedo Essay, Research Paper

Phaedo

Philosophy is a vast field. It examines and probes many different

fields. Virtue, morality, immortality, death, and the difference between the

psyche (soul) and the soma (body) are just a few of the many different topics

which can be covered under the umbrella of philosophy. Philosophers are

supposed to be experts on all these subjects. The have well thought out

opinions, and they are very learned people. Among the most revered philosophers

of all time was Socrates. Living around the 5th century B.C., Socrates was

among the first philosophers who wasn’t a sophist, meaning that he never felt

that he was wise for he was always in the pursuit of knowledge. Unfortunately,

Socrates was put to death late in his life. One of his best students, Plato,

however, recorded what had occurred on that last day of Socrates’ life. On

that last day of his life, Socrates made a quite powerful claim.? He claimed

that philosophy was merely practice for getting used to death and dying.

At first, the connection between philosophy and death is not clear.

However, as we unravel Socrates’ argument backing up his claim, the statement

makes a lot of sense. In order for Philosophers to examine their world

accurately and learn the truth accurately, they must remove them selves of all

distractions.? These not only include physical distractions, but they include

mental distractions and bodily distractions as well. Philosophers must get

used to viewing and examining the world with out any senses. Senses merely

hinder and obscure the truth. Sight for example can be fooled easily with

optical illusions which occur normally in nature. Sound can be very

distracting as well when a philosopher is trying to concentrate. All of these

cloud the judgement, and must therefore be detached from the soul. Socrates

argues that philosophers must view the world around them with their souls in

order to accurately learn about it. However, by detaching their souls from all

bodily functions, philosophers may as well be in an induced state of death. In

mortem, the soul wanders free and there are no bodily hindrances.

Socrates also believed that philosophers look upon death with good cheer

and hope. This I find hard to believe because if this were true, the

philosopher would not be able to love life, and without the love of life, there

is no life to examine and learn about. It is understandable however from

another point of view to understand why the philosopher would look forward to

death with good cheer. Once the philosopher is dead, his soul is free to roam

around without hindrances forever, and all the worlds secrets shall be revealed

to him.? In fact, Socrates’ sees his death as a liberation from the shackles of

life for his last wish was for Crito to sacrifice a rooster to Asclepius. This

god was normally given sacrifices to free the sickly from the grips of a virus

or illness. Perhaps Socrates saw the body as a sickness that fed upon the soul.

If this were the case, then indeed Socrates would be happy to leave the bonds of

life, for then he could have an eternity to seek out his answers, all without

the diversions and distractions of a body.

Socrates believed that it was this search that was important, even more

so than the answers them selves. Socrates believed that the journey toward the

answers is where most of the learning takes place, and it is this journey that

truly integrates the answers as part of your very own being.