Introduction
Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived between 399BC to 470BC. He is popularly known and respected for his philosophical works. Though he wrote none of his philosophical works, he is referred to as the father of philosophy. He was a teacher to many with Plato being one of his favorite students. Due to the fact that Socrates wrote none of his works, Plato, his student decided to put his teacher’s philosophical works into dialogue. In the dialogue, Socrates highlighted a lot of life issues. In this brief overview we will discuss Socrates’ ideas on soul, body and knowledge.
From the dialogue Socrates argues that the body is usually separated from soul. He strongly holds that philosophers always try to free their souls from its association with the body. He stresses that all philosophers are better when dead than alive since their souls are not linked to their bodies. According to Socrates, philosophers are men who care less about the body’s pleasures and so they deserve to die or be near death (Plato, 64).
From the dialogue by Plato, Socrates argues that human body is a barrier to attaining knowledge. When a philosopher associates his search for knowledge with the body, he mostly fails in attaining the truth or the knowledge he is seeking for. He further argues that our senses can never be accurate, to confirm this he gives an example that poets always say that human beings never hears or sees things accurately. It is from this notion that Socrates states that, for philosophers to succeed in seeking knowledge or truth they must disconnect their body with the soul. The body is never accurate and therefore it cannot offer the truth.
The soul which is separated from the body can give accurate truth even after death. A soul that tries to offer truth through body assessment is always deceived by it. The soul is good at reasoning when it is by itself. Socrates believes that most of philosophers’ souls disregard the body and these souls always seek to stay by themselves while seeking answers to questions on reality. When the a philosopher’s body is linked to the body, which Socrates takes as an evil thing, then such philosophers will not sufficiently achieve the desired truth , knowledge about reality. The body is evil, it is usually prone to diseases and therefore according to Socrates, it cannot give accurate information. In order to gain pure truth, human beings must not link their soul with their body. They should instead search for the truth using the soul alone. It is for this reason that that Socrates claims that when dead, one can seek for pure knowledge and truth adequately free from the disturbances of the body (Plato, 64).
Although the body is immoral and most of the time attacked by diseases, this dos not mean that it is that useless. I do not find Socrates ideas convincing because God created the body and soul together. How then would be possible that the two organs can operate separately. How would the soul seek knowledge by itself without the help of the body? From my own point of view knowledge does not require the separation of soul from the body. This is because the knowledge and the truth that is being sought require the body for confirmation. How can a philosopher seek about reality of nature without the body? The body needs to see and confirm what is there about reality. It is therefore impossible for the body to be separated from the soul.
On the other hand Socrates states, a philosopher is best prepared for death. This is because he actually believes that, when searching for knowledge, the body should not be fused with the soul. He therefore thinks that since the body is the one that dies and the soul is let to live according to various religious believe, the soul can work without the body. Therefore a philosopher is better when dead because he will succeed in searching for the knowledge without interference of the body. This does not at all make philosophy a pleasing venture due to the fact that no human being would want to die or is at any one time prepared to die. People fear death and no one would really sacrifice his life or body due to search of knowledge (Plato, 67).
However, during his life, Socrates, was faced with a lot of oppression during the Athenian Empire. He was accused of many things one of them being corrupting young minds during his dialogues in search of truth about reality and knowledge. Due to this and other offenses Socrates was declared guilty and was sentenced to death. Socrates was prepared to die since he pleaded guilty to all charges raised against him. He did not attempt to defend himself. He also had chances to escape and live elsewhere in peace but he did not utilize these chances. He knew very well that he was going to be killed. He was neither worried nor fearful. He was prepared to die. From this we can say that Socrates was a philosopher who practiced what he taught. Just like he had indicated in the dialogue, a philosopher is better when dead or when near death. This would allow him to seek for the truth with his soul alone and not association of soul and body (Plato, 65).
Conclusion
Although Socrates ideas are intriguing they are not in line with our day to day experiences. For instance, how can human soul function without the body? I do not think this is rational. We all know that our souls are attached to our body and if we happen to lose our soul there is no body and vice versa. This is because the two are inseparable. The body relies on the soul for survival and the soul relies on the body for survival. If one fails then there is no life.
Work Cited
Plato, Benjamin Jowett. Five Great Dialogues of Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo. Australia: Coyote Canyon Press, 2009. 64
