To me, in Phaedo, Socrates and his followers are asking and trying to answer the Big questions of life. Questions like "What happens when I die?", "Should I fear death?", "Do greater things happen when I Die?". The men sit and ponder on a variation of each of these questions. What puzzles me is that Socrates says only philosophers can really look death in the face and not be frightened, because they live their life as though they are dying. True philosophers don't give in to the temptations the body desires. But why does this make a difference? I also feel like he is making a reference that there is a greater being out there by saying "I have a good hope that some future awaits men after death" (100). This means he thinks there is hope after death. But, maybe I am just digging for something that isn't there. What also confused me is the fact that these men think our lives come from being dead??? I do not understand that. That "our souls exist in the underworld" (108)? Such confusion there. Is he saying that if our souls don't proceed to live into the underworld, that our life here on earth is pointless????
I commented on Hannah Atkin's and Daniel Stephen's.
The Greeks heavily separate the body from the soul. To them, the body represents what is evil, and the soul represents what is good. Since the soul dwells in a body while it is on earth, it is kept from what is good.
ReplyDeleteI too was very confused by his words and his questions but we have to remember that Socrates is not looking for a true answer every time he is just merely putting things out there.
ReplyDeleteWhen he says that philosophers can look death in the face and not be scared, because they would be the ones to understand that there is life after death, I normally would understand and not question. However, in this case it would only make sense if Socrates was a Christian and since he isn't, I'm with you on the confusion of his questions.
ReplyDeleteA good way to think of the souls existing in the underworld is to think of it as a roller coaster ride and its line. The souls are merely waiting their turn (in line) to return to a body (riding the coaster) in the overworld. But saying that our souls come from death may imply that because we fail to recall our death from a possible previous life, then it could be that the soul may have been dead from the start. Being dead from the start really doesn't give you any room to die again.
ReplyDeleteA good way to think of the souls existing in the underworld is to think of it as a roller coaster ride and its line. The souls are merely waiting their turn (in line) to return to a body (riding the coaster) in the overworld. But saying that our souls come from death may imply that because we fail to recall our death from a possible previous life, then it could be that the soul may have been dead from the start. Being dead from the start really doesn't give you any room to die again.
ReplyDelete