is thatSocrates is too willing to die. Socrates argues that we are the possessionof the gods, so to kill ourselves would be to rob them. Socratesexpresses his belief that after death he will travel to the gods who aregood and wise, and will be in the company of others who are better thanthose he will leave behind. Simmias asks Socrates to convince them, andthey will no longer charge him with suicide. Socrates claims that thephilosopher pursues death--the separation of soul and body, when thesoul exists in herself, and is parted from the body. Socrates argues thatthe philosopher is unconcerned with pleasures of the body, that he wouldrather turn completely to the soul. The philosopher, Socrates says, seeksto sever the soul from the body. Socrates argues that when the soulseeks truth, the body deceives it. Truth is revealed in thought, and thoughtis best when the mind is gathered into herself. Socrates then introduces adiscussion of forms: absolutes of justice, beauty, and good. These, hesays, are not perceived with the bodily senses. Rather, these areperceived with an intellectual vision, with the mind alone. The body, hesays, is a source of trouble that creates desires in us that keeps us fromseeking the truth. To attain pure knowledge, we must part from the body.So after death, when the soul is alone and without the body, we may beable to attain truth. So the philosopher seeks to separate the soul from thebody and enjoy a purification, and will leave this life with joy, and with nofear of death. Cebes agrees with what Socrates has said, but asks howwe can know that the soul does not die with the body. Socrates beginshis response by mentioning the doctrine of reincarnation, that souls departat death to another world, and return, and are born from the dead. Theliving comes from the dead, so the soul must be in another world.Socrates supports this by discussing opposites, such as good and evil, hotand cold, pain and pleasure, where on...
