Don't Be Afraid to Die in Socrates' Phaedo

Throughout the course of the Phaedo, Socrates argues that the soul is immortal. Because he believes that his soul will live on forever, Socrates claims that he is not afraid to die. Socrates was sentenced to death and due to the fact that he took the poison earlier than when was necessary, many believe that he committed suicide. Contrary to what may be presumed about Socrates’ death, I will argue that he is a martyr and did not commit suicide.

Suicide is defined as taking one’s life for the sake of oneself. Killing oneself, does not necessarily mean suicide because suicide is inherently selfish and completely focused on the individual. The reason for killing oneself changes whether it is suicide or not. Suicide has a very negative connotation, and according to Socrates, to “…take his own life…is not right” (Plato 98). Socrates is against the act of suicide. When reading Phaedo, it makes sense to assume that when Socrates does drink the poison, he undermines almost everything he says because he kills himself a few hours before he needs to, and during the hours before his death, he says multiple times and in multiple ways that killing oneself is wrong. When one looks at Socrates death as an act of martyrdom, he does not undermine what he said. In fact, he exemplifies everything he said by drinking the poison early. Socrates is a martyr because a martyr is defined as someone who takes his or her own life for the sake of someone else. Socrates displays martyrdom because he died for the sake of his friends.

Socrates dies for the sake of his friends in order to show them that they should not fear death. He explains to his friends, throughout Phaedo that the soul is immortal, and he uses logical arguments to prove that it’s...

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...ues that our bodies are considered a particular, because when we die, unlike our souls, our bodies are gone forever. Throughout this paper, I argued that Socrates is a martyr, because he spent his entire life preparing for death and explained to his friends that there is nothing to fear about death, because, in the end, our souls will live on. Ultimately, Socrates takes the poison earlier than necessary, not to commit suicide, but rather in light of his friends. He did this so that they could understand that dying really means our soul continues on to live.

I found Socrates’ martyrdom very inspiring and worthy of praise. For someone to die for the sake of someone else displays true character. There is no concrete evidence that the soul exists in an afterlife, yet through strong faith, Socrates shows that he is not only a great philosopher, but also a noble man.