Socrates: The Fear Of Death

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Socrates father of philosophy and founder of western philosophy was killed by Athenians and today in the 21st century we know him by his student works Plato (Kofman, Sarah, 1998). One of Plato’s works is “The apology” in which he wrote about Socrates defense in a court. Socrates is defending himself against the charges which Meletus accused. He was indicted for corrupting the minds of youth and not believing in God of the state. The apology did not work and lost the trial, consequently, he was sentenced to death. Socrates had been living a philosophical life questioning, investigating and examining the universe. However, philosophy was his sacred path (C. George Boeree, 2009), but when the jury announced the death penalty for him why he did…show more content…
In the Apology Socrates said that: to fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know. No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils. (Pg 9) Here he means that we should only fear what we are sure and confident about it, but death would be or would not be the greatest blessing to a man no one knows. Thus, it is dreadful for any living man to distinguish what comes after death and it is impossible to discuss or ask the dead. Moreover, he believed that the fear of death pertained to his/ her actions. In the trial Socrates articulates that “you are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his actions, whether he does what is right or wrong, whether he is acting like a good or a bad man” (Pg 9). He clarifies that those who have done evil actions might be afraid of death, but he from his childhood has not done anything wrong and evil. If he wanted to do any evil action he could not do, due to the divine sound that he hears avoided him from doing evil

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