THE PHILOSOPHY OF SOCRATES

Compiled and collected by Charlie Kyriacou

Excerpts from writings attributed to Socrates in no particular order based on my
particular interests in the philosopher
PHAEDO !"arrator of the last moments of Socrates in prison before he ta#es the
hemloc#$ %Do not lose heart& replied Socrates& and the day may come when you will
understand' ( suppose that you wonder why& when other things which are e)il may be
good at certain times and to certain persons& death is to be the only exception& and
why& when a man is better dead& he is not permitted to be his own benefactor& but must
wait for the hand of another''' %( admit the appearance of inconsistency in what ( am
saying* but there may not be any real inconsistency after all' +here is a doctrine
whispered in secret that a man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door and run
away* this is a great mystery which ( do not ,uite understand' and yet ( too belie)e
that the gods are our guardians& and that we men are a possession of theirs' Do you
not agree-
(..O/+A0(+1 O2 +HE SO30 %4ould you not say that he!the philosopher$ is
entirely concerned with the soul and not with the body- He would li#e& as far as he
can& to get away from the body and to turn to the soul'''+hen when does the soul attain
truth-5for in attempting to consider anything in company with the body she is
ob)iously decei)ed'''+hen must not true existence be re)ealed to her in thought& if at
all-''And thought is best when the mind is gathered into herself and none if these
things trouble her5neither sounds nor sights nor pain nor any pleasure&5when she ta#es
lea)e of the body& and has as little as possible to do with it& when she has no bodily
sense or desire& but is aspiring after true being-'''And is this the philosopher
dishonours the body* his soul runs away from his body an desires to be alone and by
herself-'''4ell but there is another thing& Simmias* (s there or is there not an absolute
6ustice-'''and an absolute beauty and absolute good-'' 7ut did you e)er behold any of
them with your eyes-''Or did you e)er reach them with any other bodily sense-5And (
spea# not of these alone& but of absolute greatness& and health& and strength& and of the
essence or true nature of e)erything' Has the reality of them e)er been percei)ed by
you through the bodily organs- or rather& is not the nearest approach to the #nowledge
of their se)eral natures made by him who so orders his intellectual )ision as to ha)e
the most exact conception of the essence of each thing which he considers-''And he
attains to the purest #nowledge of them who goes to each with the mind alone& not
introducing or intruding in the act of thought sight or any other sense together with
reason& but with the )ery light of the mind in her own clearness searches into the truth
of each* he who has got rid& as far as he can& of eyes and ears and& so to spea#& of the
whole body& these being in his opinion distracting elements which when they infect
the soul hinder her from ac,uiring truth and #nowledge5who& if not he& is li#ely to
attain to the #nowledge of true being-'''And when true philosophers consider all these
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things& will they not be led to ma#e a reflection which they will express in words
something li#e the following- %Ha)e we not found&% they will say& %a path of thought
which seems to bring us and our argument to the conclusion& that while we are in the
body& and the soul is infected with the e)ils of the body& our desire will not be
satisfied& and our desire is of the truth- 2or the body is a source of endless trouble to
us by reason of the mere re,uirement of food* and is liable also to diseases which
o)erta#e and impede us in the search after true being* it fills us of lo)es& and lusts& and
fears& and fancies of all #inds& and endless foolery''causing turmoil and confusion in
our en,uiries& and so ama9ing us that we are pre)ented from seeing the truth' (t has
been pro)ed to us by experience that if we would ha)e pure #nowledge of anything
we must be ,uit of the body5the soul in herself must behold things in themsel)es and
the we shall attain the wisdom which we desire& and of which we say that we are
lo)ers* not while we li)e& but after death* for if while in company with the body& the
soul cannot ha)e pure #nowledge& one of two things follows5wither #nowledge is not
to be attained at all& or& if at all& after death' 7ut& O my friend& if this be true& there is
great reason to hope that& going wither ( go& when ( ha)e come to the end of my
6ourney & ( shall attain that which has been the pursuit of my life' And therefore ( go
my way re6oicing and not ( only& but e)ery other man who belie)es that his mind has
been made ready and that he is in a manner purified'''And what is purification but the
separation of the soul from the body& as ( was saying before* the habit of the soul
gathering and collecting herself into herself from all sides out of the body* the
dwelling in her own place alone& as in another life& so also in this& as far as she can*5
the release of the soul from the chains of the body-'''And the true philosophers&
Simmias& are always occupied in the practice of dying& wherefore also to them least of
all men is death terrible'
:(/+3E (S K"O40ED;E And are not the temperate exactly in the same case-
+hey are temperate because they are intemperate5which might seem to be a
contradiction& but is ne)ertheless the sort of thing which happens with this foolish
temperance' 2or there are pleasures which they are afraid of losing* and in their desire
to #eep them& they abstain from some pleasures& because they are o)ercome by others*
and although to be con,uered by pleasure is called by men intemperance& to them the
con,uest of pleasure consists in being con,uered by pleasure' And that is what ( mean
by saying that& in a sense& they are made temperate through intemperance'''1et the
exchange of one fear or pleasure or pain for another fear or pleasure or pain& and of
the greater for the less& as if they were coins& is not the exchange of )irtue' O my
blessed Simmias& is there not one true coin for which all things ought to be
exchanged-5and that is wisdom* and only in exchange for this& and in company with
this& is anything truly bought or sold& whether courage or temperance or 6ustice' And
is not all true )irtue the companion of wisdom& no matter what fears or pleasures or
other similar goods or e)ils may or may not attend her- 7ut the )irtue which is made
up of these goods& when they are se)ered from wisdom and exchanged with one
another& is a shadow of )irtue only& nor is there any freedom or health or truth in her*
but in the true exchange there is a purging away of all these things& and temperance&
and 6ustice& and courage& and wisdom herself are the purgation of them' +he founders
of the mysteries would appear to ha)e had a real meaning& and were not tal#ing
nonsense when they intimated in a figure long ago that he who passes unsanctified
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and uninitiated into the world below will lie in a slough& but that he who arri)es there
after initiation and purification will dwell with the gods'
P/OO2 O2 /E("CA/"A+(O" K"O40ED;E (S /ECO00EC+(O" !All things
which ha)e opposites are generated out of opposites5life from death proof'$ 1our
fa)orite doctrine& Socrates& that #nowledge is simply recollection''And in all these
cases & the recollection may be deri)ed from things li#e or unli#e-''And when the
recollection is deri)ed from li#e things& then another consideration is sure to arise&
which is5whether the li#eness in any degree falls short or not of that which is
recollected-'''And shall we proceed a step further& and affirm that there is such a thing
as e,uality& not of one piece of wood or stone with another& but that& o)er and abo)e
this& there is absolute e,uality- Shall we say so-'''And do we #now the nature of this
absolute essence- +o be sure& he said' And whence did we obtain our #nowledge- Did
we not see e,ualities of material things& such as pieces of wood and stones& and gather
from them the idea of an e,uality which is different from them- 2or you will
ac#nowledge that there is a difference' Or loo# at the matter in another way5Do not
the same pieces of wood or stone appear at one tie e,ual and at another time une,ual-
+hat is certain' 7ut are real e,uals e)er e,ual- or is the idea of e,uality the same as of
ine,uality-'''+hen these =so called> e,uals are not the same with the idea of
e,uality-''And yet from these e,uals& although differing from the idea of e,uality& you
concei)ed and attained that idea-''4hich might be li#e and unli#e them-''7ut that
ma#es no difference whene)er from seeing one thing you concei)ed another& whether
li#e or unli#e& there must surely ha)e been an act of recollection- +hen& Simmias& our
souls must also ha)e existed without bodies before they were in the form of man& and
must ha)e had intelligence'''+hen may we not say& Simmias& that if& as we are always
repeating& there is an absolute beauty& and goodness& and an absolute essence of all
things* and if to this& which is now disco)ered to ha)e existed in our former state& we
refer all our sensations& and with this compare them& finding these ideas to be pre5
existent and out inborn possession5then our souls must ha)e had a prior existence& but&
if not& there would be no force in the argument- +here is the same proof that these
ideas must ha)e existed before we were born& as that our souls existed before we were
born* and if not the ideas& then not the souls'''' 4hat ( mean is that men who ha)e
followed after gluttony& and wantoness& and drun#eness& and ha)e had no thought of
a)oiding them& would pass into asses and animals of that sort' 4hat do you
thin#-'''And those who ha)e chosen the portion of in6ustice& and tyranny& and
)iolence& will pass into wol)es& or into haw#s and #ites*5 whither else can we suppose
them to go-
A"+(C(PA+(O" O2 CH/(S+- !+he fear that the soul will )anish into thin air must
be charmed away$ Socrates said 0et the )oice of the charmer be applied daily until
you ha)e charmed away the fear' And where shall we find a good charmer of our
fears& Socrates& when you are gone- Hellas& he replied& is a large place& Cebes& and has
many good men& and there are barbarous races not a few see# for him among them
all& far and wide& sparing neither pains or money* for there is no better way of
spending your money' And you must see# among yoursel)es too for you will not find
others better able to ma#e the search'
?
+HE "A+3/E O2 +HE SO30 A"D +HE 7OD1 +hat the soul is in the )ery
li#eness of the di)ine& and immortal& and intellectual& and uniform& and indissoluble&
and unchangeable* and that the body is in the )ery li#eness of the human& and mortal&
and unintellectual& and multiform& and dissoluble& and changeable'
+HE CA00 +O :(/+3E 4hat ( mean is that men who ha)e followed after gluttony&
and wantoness& and drun#eness& and ha)e had no thought of a)oiding them& would
pass into asses and animals of that sort' 4hat do you thin#-'''And those who ha)e
chosen the portion of in6ustice& and tyranny& and )iolence& will pass into wol)es& or
into haw#s and #ites*5 whither else can we suppose them to go-'''"o one who has not
studied philosophy and who is not entirely pure at the time of his departure is allowed
to enter the company of the ;ods& but the lo)er of #nowledge only' And this is the
reason& Simmias and Cebes& why the true )otaries of philosophy abstain from all
fleshy lusts& and hold out against them and refuse to gi)e themsel)es up to
them'''because they dread the dishonour or disgrace of e)il deeds' +he!greatest$ e)il is
that when the feeling of pleasure or pain is most intense& e)ery soul of man imagines
the ob6ects of this intense feeling to be then plainest and truest* but this is not so& they
are really the things of sight'''7ut she!the soul$ will calm passion& and follow reason&
and dwell in the contemplation of her& beholding the true and di)ine=which is not
matter or opinion>& and thence deri)ing nourishment' +hus she see#s to li)e while she
li)es& and after death she hopes to go to her own #indred and to that which is li#e her&
and to be freed from human ills' "e)er fear& Simmias and Cebes& that a soul which has
been thus nurtured and has had these pursuits& will at her departure from the body be
scattered and blown away by the winds and be nowhere and nothing&
Copleston& p8?@' (n this period Plato is still influenced by Socratic intellectual
determinism' .ost of the dialogues end without any definite result ha)ing been
attained* this is characteristic of SocratesA %not #nowing'%
B