Socrates’ Views on Death
Socrates is known as one of the earliest Greece philosophers who were vigilant in developing morality and the first philosophy. The trial of Socrates from charges against influencing the youth and failing to respect the gods is represented in the “Apology” by Plato. Socrates reveals several ideas concerning is believe in death as well as defending his innocence before the jury for the charges filed against him. The perception of Socrates towards death has been viewed to be distinct and ironical about an ordinary person, and most of the perception bit was revealed in the apology. Socrates did not do written philosophy, but his accounts have been kept by several authors who knew the greatness of Socrates as well as his contribution to philosophy. According to Socrates, death was not an ideal to fear because the gods would not let a good person suffer either in life or death, and that the gods were responsible for calling people to death when the time was right.
The apology by Plato revealed the perceptions towards death by Socrates. Socrates appears to be a strong believer of the Oracle and does not choose to believe in issues that go against the oracle. For example, Socrates believes that the fear of death is disrespect to the oracle and that an individual should not attempt to know things that they should not know. The knowledge on what happens after death is viewed as a subject should be ignored, and the ignorance is justified by respect to the oracle. Socrates says that men should accept to be ignorant and believe that death is the greatest thing that happens in the life of a human being. Also, Socrates believed that he would be blessed to die as a good man because he was assured that the gods will treat him nicely and that he had nothing to fear. Additionally, Socrates believed that death was better than according to respect to people who kept lying on innocent listeners under the excuse of being wise. Socrates had two perceptions of death, as revealed in the apology by Plato.
Socrates perceived death as a deep, dreamless sleep that would not be accompanied by any perceptions. Dead people do not have any feeling and cannot be involved in any decision making. Therefore Socrates believed that death was a form of relief from the struggles of life since all eternity would be covered as a single night of uninterrupted and dreamless sleep (Jones, 98). The comparison of death and the dreamless night was borrowed from the belief that such a night would not be remembered and that peace is accompanied with such a night. Socrates supported the perception by questioning the claims meant by people who claimed to be wise. Besides, Socrates did not admit to being wise than anyone but used the strategy of questioning the people who claimed to be enlightened to reveal his wisdom. In some instances, Socrates admitted being better than anyone, including the jury in charge of his trial. For example, Socrates gives a different reading that should be used in his trial, which is different from the charges presented by the accuser. Socrates admits that he was interested in arguing against the existing ideologies and that he was interested in researching on things beneath the earth and above the heaven and that he could not believe in the standards maintained by the court. The defense mechanism of Socrates surprised even the accuser because Socrates did not appear afraid of death that would be eminent in the event the court found him guilty of the charges placed on him.
The second perception of death by Socrates was that death is a mechanism of changing from the physical world to a better world. The next world that Socrates believed in was most probably a spiritual world because the body of a human being is always left on the physical world as the spirit departs: “which of us goes to a better place is known to no one” Socrates (42a). Socrates also believed that death would bring an easier escape path from the sufferings of the physical world as well as from the people who were continuously judging his way of life. Besides, Socrates would get a chance to meet great people who had died before him and that Socrates would continue with his activities without being judged for his activities. One of the activities that Socrates believed would be enhanced by death was the ability to examine people and challenge their ideologies without being subjected to judgment. The second perception shows that death brings another form of life where judgment has been eliminated, and people are free to live the life of their choice.
In sum, Socrates believed that death was not an ideal to fear because the gods would not let a good person suffer either in life or death, and that the gods were responsible for calling people to death when the time was right. Socrates had two perceptions on death as revealed in the apology by Plato; that death was a dreamless sleep, and that death was a way to change from the physical world into another world that is probably spiritual.
Works Cited
Jones, Russell E. “Socrates’ Bleak View of the Human Condition.” Ancient Philosophy 36.1 (2016): 97-105.
Plato, B. (2019). Apology. BookRix.