[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Socrates' Argument That He Is Not Afraid Of Death And Is It
In depicting Socrates' philosophic courage, Plato moved the farthest from the military courage of the warrior and also modified the civic courage of the citizen. The warrior feared defeat and disgrace more than death. The citizen learned to fear dishonor and loss of community more than death. Although Socrates had been a soldier, he chose to avoid further public office. As a philosopher, he occupied a position that was semi-public, not solely private, for he entered into dialogue with people he met, and his condemnation and death were public events. (Plato 31) He considered his existence to centrally involve doing philosophy in the city and he sought to preserve this self from danger.
One's existence, he argued in the Apology, involved one's position, whether in war or philosophy (Plato 28c-e). This was given by one's natural talents (or by temporary assignment by the city), although how a person interpreted his calling left considerable latitude within these limits. "When a man has once taken up his stand, either because it seems best to him or obedience to orders, there I believe he is bound to remain and face the danger ..." (Plato 28d).
Did Socrates feel fear? He seemed not to fear death to his body, since he did not know if death was an evil (Plato 29a-b, 40b-41d, 42). He alluded to Achilles as a hero who made light of death compared to dishonor (Plato 28c-e), yet that passage in the Iliad (18.94-106) as well as others suggest that Achilles' wrath may have masked his natural "fright" (Plato 262) at an "untimely death" (Plato 540). While Socrates was not young when condemned, the political nature of the judgment against him could be seen to make his death untimely since it was before its natural time. Socrates also suggested that after death there might be another life of the soul.....................
