The Argument against Suicide in Plato's Phaedo

             Plato's Phaedo makes a lot of interesting arguments that are worth contemplating about. One of the primary arguments deals with Socrates' views on Suicide. Socrates and his friends, Cebes and Simmias, discuss whether it is wrong to kill oneself. Socrates begins by saying that it is wrong to kill oneself because it is against God's wishes. Gods are our keepers and we are their possessions; we will be punished if we destroy ourselves. Even though he ultimately extols the virtues of dying for "philosophers", he strongly feels that common man does not have a right to take away (his own life) what doesn't belong to him (he is God's possession) in the first place.
             The major arguments, intended to affirm his ultimate argument are as follows:
             • We are the God's possessions.
             • There is a time to do it and a time no to do it ( "....it is not unreasonable that one should not kill oneself before a God had indicated some necessity to do so, like the necessity now put upon us" (62 C).
             • We will make the Gods angry if we do it.
             • We would be angry and punish our own possessions if they killed themselves without a sign from us. Thus, we shouldn't kill ourselves.
             • Gods will treat their possessions as we do.
             • We don't want to incur the wrath of God.
             The major premises of the above arguments involve slavery and inanimate object. The last 3 arguments are stated implicitly. If they would have been raised explicitly, it might actually have weakened Socrates' argument.
             It is important for Socrates to explain his position because he seems to pay tribute to all the virtues of embracing death being a philosopher, yet doesn't want every man to think that death is an instantaneous cure to all ills. Simmias raises an important question, "..... It may well astonish you if this subject, along of all things, is simple, and it is never, as wit...

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The Argument against Suicide in Plato's Phaedo. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 16:27, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/4230.html