Socrates states that philosophy is actually the practice for dying. In this belief he says that death is the separation of soul from body, and this is what philosophers are truly after. He says that in order to “dwell with the gods” one must be “purified and initiated,” and in order to do this on must gain as much knowledge as possible (69c). In order to gain this knowledge one must be separated from all externalities that may hold him back from gaining as much knowledge. Philosophers are not concerned with the body or the things that serve it, and the body is actually interfering with this acquisition of knowledge. Socrates makes this a strong argument because he believes that people should not be afraid

of death. He says that the reason people are afraid of death is that they do take the time to “search for reality” and that they cannot do this in the presence of their body (65 c).

My problem with this argument is that no one actually says why it is the body that holds us back from learning “true” wisdom. First of all Socrates defines different goods or services that effect the body and soul. Bodily goods such as pleasures, external goods such as wealth, and soul goods such as wisdom are the types of things that affect a person. Socrates believes that the interference of these bodily and external goods does not allow a person to learn wisdom, which in turn they will not be able to be prepared for death. He says that the body “fills us with wants, desires, fears, all sorts of illusions and much nonsense,” and this is what stops man from learning true knowledge and from being prepared for death (66 c).

However, who is to say that the soul will live after the body dies? Cebes makes a statement that he believes that “after [the soul] has left the body it no longer exists anywhere, but that it is destroyed and dissolves on the day the man dies” (70 a). In order for the soul to continue to exist and learn complete knowledge after the body dies, it would have to “possess some capability and intelligence” (70 b). Socrates backs this question up by leading into the discussion of opposites from opposites. If being dead comes from being alive, then the opposite must be true also, which is bei

Some topics in this essay:
Plato’s Phaedo, afraid death, soul affected, body person, fear death, soul body, bodily external, gain knowledge, , learn complete knowledge, practice dying, people afraid death, people afraid, socrates philosophy,