Socrates and the essence of the soul
For Socrates, it was imperative for a man, when in living his life, to give importance and emphasis to enrich his soul rather than his body. The thesis of this reading is that Man becomes a better person when he pursues not worldly desires but the virtuous life. By striving to seek the good over the evil, the right against the wrong, he becomes a well-rounded person, and become wise in his ways. For these were the essence of the soul or the most important elements in Man’s quest for and the achievement of immortality.
In hindsight, it is like how Socrates led his own life – he stood up for his beliefs and philosophies and while he paid it with his life, his “soul’’ lived on and reached immortality in a way that his words lived on today several centuries after.
The body and its desires
In The Trial and Death of Socrates, Plato recounted on various occasions how Socrates in his dialogues with colleagues would stress out the need for Man to pursue things that would ensure “the best possible state of the soul.” He said just as much when he faced the jury that had sentenced him to die for allegedly corrupting the mind of the young in Athens. Socrates told the jury when he first tried to defend himself from his accusers that what he does was to persuade both the young and old not to care for the body as much or as strongly as they would for the soul (30b). He encourages them to pursue the “best possible state” of their soul.
He said that wealth for instance “does not bring about excellence but excellence makes wealth and everything else good for men, both individually and collectively (Ibid.).”
Socrates was saying here that it was better for one to strive for things that are good and virtuous such as excellence as against wealth because he ends up a better person and thus, also create a better life for himself. It is putting worldly desires aside and pursuing virtues instead. It is like the soul is the higher state of the body in this example.
The difference between the soul and the body
For Socrates, the soul is immortal while the body perishes.
On the day his death sentence is to be carried out, Socrates made a distinction between the body and soul when talking to his advisers who asked him how they should bury him once he dies after drinking the poison to be served to him by authorities.
“In any way you like, said Socrates, if you can catch me and I do not escape you,’’ (Phaedo, 115c).
Here, Socrates was saying his body may perish when he dies and becomes a corpse, but his soul will live on. For him, the body and the soul are but separate entities.
And for him, his soul will go to a better place than where his body was.
“I have been saying for some time and at some length that after I have drunk the poison I shall no longer be with you but will leave you to go and enjoy some good fortunes of the blessed (115d).’’
The soul and immortality
Socrates took his argument on the essence of the soul one more step by stating that a person who managed to lead a life where goodness and virtues reign more, end up achieving immortality of his soul. “(T)he soul is evidently immortal and a man should repeat this to himself if it were an incantation (114d),” Socrates said when he was about to drink the poison that served as his death sentence.
For Socrates, there is a reason why an individual should be glad for his soul if he ignored the pleasures and desires of the body in his life on earth. Ornamentation for oneself is good only if a person would adorn himself with the “moderation, righteousness, courage, freedom and truth (114e).” If a person has continually succumbed to the desires of his body, then he will do more harm than good for his soul.
Socrates was saying that Man should not be afraid when he dies, especially when in his life, he has strived to make himself a better person by pursuing virtues and goodness more ardently than going after worldly pleasures.
Because he said souls have “dwelling places,’’ and if he has done goodness when he was alive, this will be rewarded by the Gods by making sure his soul would go to a better place.
Socrates talked about the soul and its immortality when he gave his reflection of the underworld or life after death. For him, death is actually a blessing for it is either one of these two things: the dead or a relocation of the soul to another place (40d). The dead is actually equivalent to nothing. In fact Socrates says, “They have no perception of anything (Ibid.)”
Socrates says in his reflection, “You too must be of good hope as regards death, gentlemen of the jury, and keep this one truth in mind, that a good man cannot be harmed either in life or death, and that his affairs are not neglected by gods (Apology, 40-41d).
Conclusion: It seemed that Socrates believed there was life after death when he stated that death could be a relocation of the soul to another place. This could mean “heaven’’ for some people. And for him, a person’s good deeds in his human life would be rewarded with the immortality of his soul. If the soul goes to another place where the other good men are, then Socrates said he would be happy to be in the company of these men – that it would an “extraordinary happiness” to talk to them (41c). “In any case they would certainly not put one to death for doing so. They are happier there than we are here in other respects, and for the rest of time they are deathless (Ibid.),’’ Socrates continued.
Works Cited
Plato. The Trial and Death of Socrates [Translated by G.M.A Grube; Revised by John M Cooper]. Third Edition.Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 2011. Print.
