Analysis Of Socrates 'Do Minds Survive After Death'

However, he didn’t care that by saying these things there was a chance he could die. Socrates only cared about giving a voice to the generation to come. Socrates further expanded on this point sayng if the future generation “care[s] about riches, more than virtue,” to “reprove them” (232) for not thinking for themselves. Socrates did not want others to continue following one certain belief. He wanted to change how people thought, and simply provide a different point of view.

By viewing the painting The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David, Socrates’ loyalty to the Athenian government was far more important to him than his own death or friendship. He was more interested in teaching his students about his belief in reason and the law of justice before he died. Still, the students and friends were arguing with him and trying to convince him to renounce his teachings. Socrates was strong in telling his students how it was for the good of society that he drinks the poison hemlock. He was not going to change what he was teaching all along when he truly believed in the democratic Athenian government laws. Socrates’ loyalty to the government was much stronger than the ties of friendship or acquaintances.

“it is time for me to die, and for you to live- though which of us has the better destiny is unclear to everyone, save only to God.” So with this statement, Socrates seems to contradict himself and admits that nobody really knows whether it is better to be alive than dead. This statement also clearly identifies the fact that he believes in a supreme being so there is no way he could believe that there is no life after death. He in fact several times speaks about how his obedience to his God is of the utmost importance. Essentially this whole argument about death with no after life being a favorable outcome is completely preposterous. He would be abandoning his family, friends and his principles further contradicting

“the hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways – I to die, and

The skepticism found within Socrates' logic leads us to realize that he has no claims that he has answers, yet he is living and dying for the ideal that "an unexamined life is not worth living." There is no point at which Socrates is looking for followers, much like a prophet would look for disciples, for his ideals appeal to reason, not faith. Although this may be the case, he has left his contemporaries, ancient and modern day philosophers, as well as any other students of his teachings in a complete paradox. For centuries, many have attempted to carve out a middle path between the severity of his claim on the examined life, and the predestined state of doubt that surfaces with the search for justice and virtue.

The problem with Socrates concerns the problem with the role of value and reason. Nietzsche believes that the bulk of philosophers claim that life is a corrupt grievance for mankind. Nietzsche reasoned that these life deniers were decadents of Hellenism, as a symptom of some underlying melancholy. For someone to paint life in such a negative light they must have suffered a great deal through the course of their own life. Furthermore, these no-sayers agreed in various physiological ways and thus adopted the same pessimistic attitudes towards life. Socrates was ugly, alike decadent criminals and by ways of these similarities was decadent as well. Nietzsche also claims ugliness as a physiological symptom of life in its decline supported by studies in phenology.

Socrates explains that philosophy is the preparation for death. In other words, Socrates has spent the majority of his life preparing for the separation of his body and soul. “…the one aim of those who practice philosophy in the proper manner is to practice for dying and death” (101). He says that because our souls are immortal, we should embrace death and look forward to what it has to offer for our souls. To confirm this belief, Socrates again states, “…the freedom and separation of the soul from the body is called death…those who practice philosophy in the right way, we say, who always want to free the soul; and this release and separation of the soul from the body is the preoccupation of the philosophers” (104). A philosopher’s ambition, when looking toward death, is to free the soul from its body; therefore, when one dies, the soul lives on and the body does not.

Plato's views on life after death were manifold, and developed over time as an examination of a bevy of his literature readily indicates. However, during all phases of his writing he does demonstrate that there is in fact life after physical death, which is widely attributed to his notion of the soul. Plat always viewed the soul as an entity that was distinct from the physical body. Moreover, while the physical body was destined to die, the soul was enduring, interminable, and destined to go on somewhere in some state of being. In just what sort of way the soul would endure was a matter of question, in which at various points in his career as a writer Plato offered different accounts. Yet the most consistent part of this conception of the author's was the fact that the soul was everlasting.

The significance of this quote is a representation of how Socrates feels about death. He believes that no one can escape death therefor shouldn’t fear death at all. Fearing the unknown is not going to get us anywhere expect limit our potential. He also believes that it is not difficult to refrain from death but it is difficult to stay away from evil since it surrounds us all. I believe this quote demonstrates the high believe Socrates acquires about death and the idea of the after life to convince the jury because he was trying to demonstrate to the jury that he is not scared death because he is willingly accepting his fate.

Viewing the painting “The Death of Socrates” by Jacques-Louis David, one can perceive many different subject matters, both literally and metaphorically. The obvious is seen within the setting of the painting. The clear illustration of where the event is happening provides the onlooker with a glimpse into a different time and era. Conversely, the artist has taken the liberty to hide deep meaning inside the work of art through less apparent means. Symbolism through art work has endured from early works to contemporized ones, here is no different. Taking the two aforementioned into consideration gives us a glimpse into both the symbolic and factual significance of the occasion.

This is evident within in which he describes the death of Socrates and more specifically the events around it. Here it is shown that Socrates was put to death for attempting to convince the people of Athens to think more broadly and begin to question the basis of their culture before blindly following along with it. Interestingly, it is shown that from here the people following the culture, being the dominant party, quickly conclude that he aims to corrupt and harm the people of Athens and thus put him to death. This is clearly not true, however, as it is revealed to the reader that Socrates was not corrupt, nor had his beliefs come from anger or courage but “It had been grounded in philosophy.” showing that he had thought this through, despite this the authorities still put him

Socrates does not fear death because he doesn’t know if death is good or evil. Socrates talks bad about death when he says “the fear of death amounts to the simply thinking one is wise when one is not.” You see Socrates confusion of how he doesn’t know if death is good or bad when he says, “And let us also reflect upon how good a reason there is to hope that death is a good thing.” The other reason why Socrates doesn’t fear death is because he feels as though fearing death is a kind of false wisdom. Socrates' wisdom comes from acknowledging that he does not know what he does not know, and his acknowledgment that he does not know what awaits him in the afterlife leads him not to fear it.

On the day of Socrates’ execution, conducted by the state of Athens, he has a number of friends and philosophers join him in his cell to discuss his perceptions on death and his soul in the afterlife. During his final conversation preceding his passing, Socrates presents four arguments for the soul’s immortality and suggests that each genuine philosopher should not be fearful of death, but should instead look forward to it. While I agree with Socrates on the premise that the soul is immortal, I do not feel that any of his arguments are sufficient enough to prove this belief to be true. Plato’s Phaedo allegedly recounts these events and departing conversations with Socrates. Socrates’ first argument regarding the soul’s immortality focuses

In Phaedo Socrates claims that the soul exists somewhere after the body dies. He uses the argument of opposites to make his claim. Socrates believes that for something to “be” it must have been something else before or come from something. He gives Cebes examples of thing that are generated as a result from its opposite. “when anything becomes greater it must inevitably have been smaller and then have become greater.” He uses this example to say that being “greater” is derived from having been “smaller” at some point; and that in between being “greater” and “smaller” there are a lot of variables. After giving several examples to Cebes and Cebes agreeing to most outcomes, Socrates asks Cebes if there is an opposite to living, Cebes responds

Socrates’ views of death as represented in “The Trial and Death of Socrates” are irrevocably tied to his beliefs of what makes life significant. For Socrates, life must be examined through constant questioning and one must hold the goodness of life above all else. Consequently, even in the face of the un-good, or unjust in Socrates’ case as represented in his trial, it would not be correct to do wrong, return wrong or do harm in return for harm done. Therefore, no act should be performed with an account for the risk of life or death; it should be performed solely on the basis of whether it is good and right.