A reflection on Lato’s PHAEDO
In the world, it is crucial for one to have a moral high ground so that a boundary can be determined between the right and wrong. With regard to this, the most crucial aspect of life is the time in which a person dies. Death according to a number of philosophers, is taken to be sacred in every aspect. For example, it has been determined that is the separation of the body from the soul. But first of all, we need to coherently understand and determine what we mean by these two words. To begin with, we have the body. According to both biology and science, the body is regarded as a matter that is able to be touched, felt, and seen. This body houses all organs that tend to enable a human being to function in all manner of ways. Therefore, according to philosophical knowledge, this same body is able to store and preserve the soul which gives meaning to human life. But what do we mean by giving meaning to human life? This is the nature in which a person brings himself up and interacts with the surrounding. For example, there is this phrase whereby it says “Do you have a soul?” in a layman’s language, this simply means the heart of not doing wrong. In such cases, we tend to see that the human being has been involved in some sort of wrongdoing, for example, either committing things such as murder and the like. Therefore, having a soul according to philosophical knowledge tends to depict two things. The second aspect of having a soul as stated above is being alive. This simply means that a person is able to enjoy the pleasures of life to the fullest. This includes things such as learning new things, getting married among others.
As much as people tend to want to live, there are others who tend to want to take their own lives due to a number of reasons. For starters, and the main reason is that they have given up on life due to stress issues or depression. These cases even though they tend to be seen as minor factors, have played a role in the death of many individuals across the world. But the taking of one’s life which we refer to as suicide has been an activity that has been highly condemned in history and also in the present day. For instance, some religions and communities perceive the action as being cowardice and highly immoral. However, this has not stopped people in the present day from making it somehow moral and lawful in some situations. For example, in the United States, there are a number of states that have legalized suicide by terming it to be assisted suicide whereby an individual can be made to rest in peace if he or she is suffering from an incurable disease.
In this same vein, there are some people who tend to not want to die and this can be primarily due to a number of reasons. Some of the reasons include wealth, power, and the body. However, the most logical thing that people should fight in the case of dying not to lose is wisdom. This has been championed by a number of philosophers regardless of most human beings living the other things that tend to be not important. In line with this, we can say that when a human being lives longer, he is able to acquire more knowledge which builds up to wisdom and through this, he or she can be able to make informed choices on any category and stage in life. Therefore, this should be the most important thing when it comes to repining death. As such, according to great philosophers, death has been termed as a “great evil” and in this regard, numerous courageous men have faced death as they are afraid of great evils.
Further in the discussion, there is the statement and assertion that to be called a true philosopher, apart from wanting wisdom and facing death without fear and cowardice, one should believe in the aspect that there exists an unchanging eternal reality which tends to be beyond the “ever-shifting mish-mash of our ordinary lives”. And in this mish-mash, the true philosopher should try their level best to be able to make the ends meet and achieve a rather clear intellectual-based perception of the whole shenanigans through thinking of a step by step plan that will contribute to reaching that reality. Therefore, this whole aspect points to the scenario whereby upon death, one should have the hope that there is a place where there is a rather safe and uncanny environment that has more room for growth and prosperity for those that are determined to work for it. But what do we mean by hope and how can it be achieved in an ordinary world. This can be done through a step by step form of a plan as stated above. For example, there should be the gathering of knowledge so as wisdom can increase. Through this, in the life that is currently in an ordinary setting, there can be informed decisions that will highly play a role in the afterlife which is termed as being unchanging and also a form of eternal reality.
In conclusion, therefore, at the point of having the flipping of souls back and forth through the process that involves connection and disconnection from the body, whereby connection refers to life and disconnection refers to death there lives a notion that everything under the sun comes to a certain way after being in a particular way. Therefore, this aspect should be applied to life, whereby there is the living and the dead and as such, everyone should be prepared for what is to come after living a certain life. This claim is necessary as life can be shortened by a number of reasons as was stated above, for example, stress and depression can lead one to suicide which is a condemned activity not to mention, according to philosophers, death is regarding as a great evil.