Socrates view on death - Essay Example

SOCRATES’ APOLOGY Introduction The apology by Plato gives an in depth account of the trial and death of Socrates who was being tried on two accounts of corrupting the young minds with his philosophies and failing to honor the gods being worshiped in Athens. The jury votes in favour of having him die which is to his relief and he gets an opportunity to make his last remarks which forms a major part of the apology. Socrates’ opinionIn his argument that no one knowingly accepts to get harmed, Socrates demonstrated that no one accepts to die willingly knowing very well that his actions will lead him/her to death.

Therefore man evades death by all means and it only occurs to him by chance and bad luck. He states that, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” to mean that life is made up of examination and one who cannot self examines his life is not fit to live. Death offers the best solution to a person leading an unexamined life. He does not disregard the fact that those who are learned in the society are better placed than the less educated but he supports the view that examined life is a continuous process which is independent of the level of education that one has attained (Reeve, 1989).

According to Socrates, it is better to die than to live by not expressing ones inner thoughts. This is why his defense is based purely on truth and facts. There is no point of living if you one is denied the chance of self expression. After being sentenced to death by the court, he argues that it is better to die than to live in wickedness. He believes that he has been outrun by death that he must undertake once and for all but his accusers have been outrun by wickedness which they must live with for the rest of their lives on earth and also after their death.

His view of death as a wonderful thing and a peaceful sleep in eternity is astonishing since he believes that death only moves a person from one world to another in which he can have an opportunity to meet with those who had died long time ago and have a rare chance of examining them. This reveals a person who is not afraid of death but sees it as a big relief especially after one has gotten a chance to express his innermost thoughts and what he believes to be true (West, 1998).Death to Socrates is a transformation from one life to another while maintaining the same attributes and that is why he says, “No evil can happen to a good man either living or dead” he sees justice in death as opposed to the popular view of death being a severe form of punishment.

Death does not form the best means of eliminating critics since some more critical voices are bound to emerge and so the best way to tackle criticism is to accept and make a positive change in ones life (Fagan, 2009).Personal evaluation of Socrates positionBelief in a supernatural being forms ones opinion of death. Socrates view is of death is one based on facts that can be proved beyond any reasonable doubt and is not based on any religion. Therefore, Socrates gives a deeper meaning to death as well as attaching positive attributes to it.

ReferencesFagan, P., & Russon, J. E. (2009). Reexamining Socrates in the Apology. Evanston, Ill: Northwestern University Press.Reeve, C. D. C. (1989). Socrates in the Apology: An essay on Platos Apology of Socrates. Indianapolis: Hackett.West, T. G., West, G. S., Plato, ., Plato, ., Plato, ., & Aristophanes, . (1998). Four texts on Socrates: Platos Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, and Aristophanes Clouds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.