death by socrates

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Introduction

Death is one of the most discussed topics in the entire world. It surpasses any boundaries pertaining to subject, topic, discipline, or even religion. Quite a lot of people have made incredible quotes and written volumes of literary works pertaining to the subject. One of the most prolific philosopher, Socrates, expressed his various attitudes about death. From his works, he held three attitudes about death. He stated that death is unknown, in which case anyone who is afraid of death would be basing his fears on ignorance as he does not have any knowledge of it. In his later works, Socrates expressed the goodness of death and reasoned that it must be either going to another place or a dreamless sleep. However, he could not tell whether death was better than life. In still another literary work, Socrates opined that the soul lives even after death and offered various arguments to the effect that the virtues of the soul are rewarded. Of these three arguments, I think the first one is the most plausible. Little is known about death, in which case anyone who fears it would be basing his fears on ignorance.

First, it is worth noting that all these positions are made by the same individual. The fact that he held three positions about the same thing should confirm that there is little or no knowledge about death. This is the same case that applies to the various arguments about death. The disagreements about the various aspects are allowed to continue without much challenge since no one knows about death. In essence, all arguments about death are mere speculation with no basis on truth since there exists no way of ascertaining their truth.

Moreover, it would be extremely impossible to verify or ascertain whether there is life after death. Of course, quite a lot of literature has been written about life after death. This is especially so in religious literature that outlines that there is another life after death. Other forms of religious literature insist on reincarnation and state that an individual is born again in the same world as a human being, or another animal or plant depending on his or her actions in the previous life. However, it goes without saying that there is no way of ascertaining these claims, simply because no one has ever died or gone to the other life and returned to tell the side of the story. In any case, if human beings used to live before their present lives, how come no one seems to remember any aspects of the previous lives? Of course, clinicians have tried to support this notion using some near-death experiences of their patients where patients talk of their experience and even outline some aspects that seem to indicate that the soul continues living after the body dies. It is worth noting, however, that these are near death experiences and not death in its entirety. In essence, these experiences cannot be used as conclusive evidence of the notion that the soul will survive the body. This confirms the fact that virtually nothing is known about death in which case feelings about it are based on faith rather than facts.

Moreover, there exists an element or aspect of ambiguity as to the beginning of life and its end or even the beginning of death. While there are quite a number of definitions, there is agreement that death means that the soul has been separated from the body. In this case, it would be deduced that the soul adds life to the body. As much as it would be reasonable to assume that the mind and soul and the body are two distinct things, it, however, does not imply in any way that the soul continues living after the “conventional” death. In fact, death may, as well, mean that the soul itself has died, in which case it does not add life to the body, thereby causing what people know as death. This, therefore, raises doubts on the notion that the soul or life survives the body and that it is rewarded in the afterlife for all the virtues that it incorporates. This is simply because there is no clear way of exactly what death encompasses. In the same way, it would be impossible to confirm the goodness of death or even to state whether it is better when alive or dead. People have not been provided with sufficient empirical evidence or even facts pertaining to death as to make clear, logical and conscious deductions pertaining to death. This blurs the notion that death is better than life or even whether death is a dreamless sleep. In addition, it remains unclear whether the soul survives the body. This underlines the fact that death is unknown in all or at least most of its aspects. In essence, any emotions tied to any “knowledge” of death are baseless as there is virtually no knowledge about the same. Death may be the stepping stone to a better or worse life or eternal sleep. Either way, there exists no way of ascertaining or knowing about it other than going through it, leaving people in the circle of ignorance.