Socrates On The Nature Of Death Before His Execution

In Phaedo Socrates elaborates on the nature of death before his execution. In The Apology, Socrates was sentenced to death by poison by a jury of his peer for committing atheism and corrupting the Athenian youth (Mallik). The story is told from one of Socrates’ students, Phaedo. Engaging in a dialogue with his students, Socrates argues the various ways the immortal soul can continue in the afterlife. Phaedo relates this dialogue to many other students of Socrates as well as the general public. The third argument Socrates posits is his his theory of anamnesis, also known as the theory of Recollection. Socrates remarks that we all contain fragments of non-empirical knowledge before we are born and that implies that our soul existed before then as well. It stands to reason that it will be there after our physical bodies perish and fade away. He say that the body and its senses are easily fooled (Cohen 280). We should not trust them wholeheartedly because we can be deceived. Only through reason and contemplation can we come to understand knowledge. Socrates distinguishes authentic knowledge from opinion, or doxa, by what the belief consists of. Only one can know what an eternal truth’s effects will be because that truth has sustained them for the whole existence of time (Mallik). While it relevent to have an opinion about an actionable consequence, that particular idea does not apply to the pool of authentic knowledge. Socrates divulges by asking how a soul could know suchShow MoreRelatedThe Common Theme Of Martyrdom Within The Death Of Socrates And The Execution Of Saint Barbara1032 Words   |  5 PagesTheme of Martyrdom within The Death of Socrates and The Execution of Saint Barbara When walking through a museum, one notices the immense variation within every piece. Each work contains one or a few specific themes, and its own unique interpretation of said theme. 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