Phaedo

Widely regarded as the founder of Western philosophy, Socrates spent many years as an Athenian soldier noted for bravery in service to Athens before spending his last years as a teacher and gadfly. He believed that the purpose of life was to cultivate virtue, and that the best method involved study and introspection combined with a general disregard for the distractions of physical pleasures. He also believed that an oligarchy of wise men was a superior form of government to democracy, which swayed to the whims of the unthinking masses; these beliefs got him in serious trouble with the recently re-democratized government of Athens. The city fathers finally saw fit to have Socrates brought up on flimsy charges so they could execute him and be rid of his dogged criticisms. He was about 70 years old when he died.

Phaedo makes clear Socrates’s generosity, tolerance, and caring for his students. His purpose isn’t to aggrandize himself in debate but to help others learn how to think, discuss issues assertively but fairly, and come to conclusions that withstand tests of logic.

Socrates’s insistence on reasoning that is skeptical, honest, and humble, along with his technique of questioning people’s assumptions by asking a system of questions about their premises, have affected Western philosophy for well over 2,000 years. His belief in an afterlife that rewards the virtuous and punishes the wicked left its stamp on Christianity, and his execution at the hands of self-seeking local leaders bears secular similarities to the later martyrdom of Jesus.

Benjamin Jowett’s translation of Phaedo is the version used for this guide. Jowett was a 19th-century educator and Anglican deacon, an admired tutor, lecturer, and dean of Balliol College, Oxford, who campaigned for improvements in educational and religious practices. For many years a close friend of nursing reformer Florence Nightingale, Jowett today is remembered mainly for his English translations of Plato and Thucydides, which are widely available online.

A young protégé of Socrates, Phaedo sits at the master’s side on execution day; his report of the dialogs and other events of that day take up most of the Phaedo. Little about him is related in the dialog, but history reports that he was a young high-born sold as a war captive into slavery and prostitution, ransomed by an associate of Socrates, and for two years trained by Socrates and Cebes in philosophy. Today, Phaedo would be considered a teacher’s pet, or perhaps his lover. Phaedo later established his own school, whose principles are said to descend from Socratic practices and beliefs, though none of his own works survive.

A Pythagorean philosopher and fan of Socrates, Echecrates hosts Phaedo at Phlius, a Greek town a day’s ride west of Athens. Echecrates and a few guests want to hear from Phaedo the details of Socrates’s last day, especially what he talked about and how he met his death. For the most part, Echecrates sits back and listens as Phaedo details the events of that day; only twice does he interrupt Phaedo to make a comment. Echecrates stands in for the reader, asking the obvious questions so Phaedo may respond with his report.

A citizen of Thebes, a small Greek city about 50 miles west of Athens, Cebes expresses his uncertainties on the nature of the soul to his teacher Socrates, who patiently discusses the topic until Cebes is satisfied. Cebes is better at expressing his doubts than explaining their particulars; his friend Simmias often states those details on both their behalf.

The most brilliant and persistent of Socrates’s students, Simmias of Thebes questions the teacher’s conclusions about the soul’s immortality. He believes the soul is like the harmonious music from a lyre, and that, when the lyre’s strings are cut, the harmony vanishes, as must the soul when the body dies. Socrates explains that the soul doesn’t contain attributes that can cause it to be destroyed but instead commands those attributes.

Socrates isn’t angry with Simmias for his skepticism; on the contrary, the great philosopher wants lively debate that helps his disciples learn how to think and discuss. Even more, Socrates appreciates strong counter-arguments that help him better understand and defend his own conclusions. Simmias remains skeptical to the end, and Socrates lauds him for his caution, reminding him always to check carefully the foundations of his thinking before proceeding.

Socrates is held by the city-state of Athens until his execution. He is guarded by a Jailer who enters three times during the dialog—first, to warn his prisoner that that lively discussion will slow the effect of the poison he is to take; second, to confess his own remorse at having to execute so noble a person; and third, to administer the poison. The Jailer represents the awful duty imposed on Socrates for his defiant stance against the city’s leaders; he also expresses mixed feelings common to many of the people involved in what may be a miscarriage of justice.

A lifelong friend of Socrates, the well-to-do Crito pledges his life as a guarantee against Socrates escaping his sentence. Crito attends to Socrates as he takes the poison, taking note of the philosopher’s last requests—to make a sacrifice of a rooster to the god Asclepius, and to arrange for a funeral as he sees fit—and finally closing the great man’s eyes when he has died. Crito appears in other dialogs by Plato, including Crito, in which he discusses justice with Socrates.