Phaedo As One Of Socrates’ Dialogues: General Overview

Phaedo, one of Socrates’ dialogues, was chronicled by his student Plato. He was sentenced to death for impiety and is explaining to his students why he believes the soul is immortal. In order to do this, he first addresses why philosophers do not fear death. Socrates believes that death separates the body and soul. Because bodily pleasures make the soul impure, philosophers seek to avoid them and leave the body to free the soul. Dying allows the philosopher to find the truth he seeks. Philosophers, therefore, practice philosophy in preparation for death. But then, Cebes asks, what would Socrates say to those who believe that the soul is destroyed upon death.

In defense of his position, these are the arguments Socrates makes for the soul’s immortality. First, everything is generated from its opposite state and process. If death is the opposite of life, and coming to life is the opposite of dying, then the soul also follows this cycle between life and death. Second, knowledge is recollection, and by seeing differences in inequality between things, we can recall true equality, which we must have had knowledge of before birth as it was never taught. Likewise, this applies to similar concepts such as true beauty, true goodness, true justice, etc. Third, there are two parts to existence: a seen, changing existence, and an unseen, unchanging existence. Similarly, there are two parts to humans: the seen, changing body and the unseen, unchanging soul. A pure soul, like that of a philosopher, seeks the unseen world, while a polluted soul will be seen in the world as a ghost.

After he makes counterarguments to the objections his friends have to these arguments, Socrates presents his final argument: Opposites and things that contain them cannot be opposed to or close to themselves, they will either cease to exist or run away. In addition, certain natures repel opposites as well. If the presence of the soul gives life to a body, then the soul cannot die (and therefore be destroyed), because then it would not be the soul. Therefore, it must continue into the afterlife.

In Phaedo, we see a mention of the Theory of Forms, wherein the world that we can see is merely a shadow of the true world of Forms. Socrates wishes for his soul to depart the physical world so he can see the truth of these forms, such as true equality, true beauty, and true goodness. Referring back to the allegory of the cave presented in Plato’s Republic, it could be said that Socrates seeks to leave the cave and see the truth.