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Socrates often discussed the topic of justice.
Xenophon
recollected a long conversation he had with Hippias on justice in which
Hippias commented that Socrates was still talking about
the same old things.
Hippias boasted that he could say something
new about justice,
and Socrates was eager to hear.
However, Hippias
complained that Socrates was always questioning others,
and he
challenged him to give his own account.
Socrates began by mentioning
that his own deeds are just,
but Hippias pinned him down to a
definition.
Socrates declared, “What is lawful is just.”130
The discussion showed that this means the laws made by the citizens
as covenants or agreements with each other, even though some break
them.
The just person who obeys these laws and keeps one’s agreements
is the most trustworthy.
However, Socrates did not limit justice
to public laws,
and he included also “unwritten laws,” which must not have been made by people
because they are shared
by various cultures which speak different languages.
Hippias suggested
that God made these laws for people,
for the first one is to reverence
the gods.
Socrates added the duty of honoring one’s parents and
the prohibition against incest.
Hippias disagreed with the latter
because he found that some transgress it.
However, Socrates pointed
out that those who did could not escape punishment.
Another duty,
that of returning benefits, was also broken,
and such people suffer
the gradual loss of friends.
In conclusion, Socrates suggested
that the gods ordained what is just,
and therefore even the gods
“accept the identification of the just and the lawful.”131
Apparently Socrates taught the universal principle of law
based
on divine will as the best system for justice.
In going over Socrates’ definitions, Xenophon
again indicated that
Socrates held that the just are those who
know what is lawful and do it.132
As with wisdom, we see here
the unification of knowledge and action.
Defending himself before the jury in Plato’s Defense of Socrates,
Socrates declared that justice is more important than death,
and
he cited the case of Achilles.
Socrates had a deep conviction
in the ultimate justice of life as indicated by his statement:
“I believe it is not God’s will that a better person be injured by a worse.”133
Socrates referred here to a substantial injury
to one’s soul,
not mere loss of civil rights, banishment, or even
death.
Rather he warned his accusers that the law of justice would
bring
punishment upon them for condemning an innocent man.
Socrates also refused to bring in his family to make an emotional
plea
because it would be an attempt to sway the judges to grant
favors.
This is not the duty of a good judge; instead he exhorted
them
to judge according to the laws.134
In the Crito
he maintained his conviction that it is just and best to obey
the law
even though it meant his own extinction.135
Socrates discussed
justice in situations where others, such as Crito, might have
thought
other considerations were more important,
because for
Socrates justice was apparently most important.
In the Gorgias Socrates discussed justice in relation to
rhetoric,
which only attempts to make things appear just.
Socrates
took the martyr’s position that it is better to suffer injustice
than to do it;
for doing injustice injures the soul, while suffering
injustice purifies it.
Socrates believed that all happiness consists
of education and justice.
He showed that it is actually worse
for the wrong-doer not to be punished,
because punishment is the
justice which cures the soul.
The soul is more valuable than the
body; therefore keeping it in balance through justice
is more
important than physical pain and will lead to true happiness.
Justice prevents wrong-doing from becoming a chronic cancer of
the soul.
The best use of rhetoric, then, is to reveal to a person
one’s
own injustice so that it may be quickly corrected.136
If virtue is happiness, and vice is misery, then the greatest
evil that can happen
to someone is to do wrong and not be corrected
for it by punishment.
Thus it is better to suffer wrong than to
do wrong.
Ultimately this love of goodness can transcend even
the fear of death.137
Socrates concluded the discussion with an
account of the judgment
which occurs after death when the soul
has departed from the body.
The judges in the other world pay
no attention to what the body had been like
or the social status,
but they look only at the quality of the soul and its actions.
The wicked are sent to be punished in Tartarus,
and the virtuous
go to the Islands of the Blessed.138
This was Socrates’ way of
explaining that
ultimately the gods are just, and every soul gets
its due.
The Republic began
as an investigation of what justice is.
The definitions of Simonides
that justice is paying one’s debts and being truthful
were refuted
by Socrates by means of exceptional cases, though a better dialectician
might have been able to make the distinctions necessary to rescue
these definitions.
Socrates, however, was clearing the way for
a more comprehensive search.
He also refuted the common idea that
justice is to benefit one’s friends
and harm one’s enemies by
showing it is unjust to injure anyone.139
Socrates refuted Thrasymachus’ notion that injustice is better
than justice
by describing how complete injustice arouses hatred
and is totally incompetent;
even a gang of thieves has to be somewhat
fair and cooperative
among themselves in order to be successful.
On the other hand, “justice brings oneness of mind and love.”
The just are wiser, better, and more capable of action.140
Socrates
made it clear that justice is better than injustice,
but he was
not yet satisfied that he knew what justice is.
Next Glaucon asked Socrates to show that justice is not only good
for its consequences
such as rewards and reputation but is good
for itself alone even without these other things.
Socrates was
pleased to accept the challenge,
as he was delighted to discuss
justice over and over.141
The extended discussions in the Republic have been presented
in other places.
Let us note here his description of the good
judge
and the conclusions Socrates drew about justice.
The training
of the judge is not exactly analogous to the training of the physician.
The physician benefits from having experience oneself with diseases,
but it is better for the judge to keep his soul pure of moral
corruption.
The judge should not know evil from practice
but from
long observation of the evil nature in others.142
For Socrates
it was fundamental that a judge be a good person.
Finally when Socrates had shown that the soul as akin to the eternal
and divine is
in its best condition by itself when it is virtuous
and just, the challenge had been answered.
Then the rewards could
be added also.
The gods love those who are just; in the long run
the just fare better, and the unjust end up suffering.
Again Socrates
capped his discussion of justice with a tale of the other world
and the rewards and purgations which follow the judgment after
death.143
From the perspective of the soul, to be just is to be
blessed, and to be unjust is to suffer.
In Xenophon, Socrates defined
piety or holiness
as knowing how to worship the gods lawfully.144
Thus piety is closely analogous to justice,
which relates to what
is lawful concerning people.
Xenophon also recorded extensive
companions’ awareness of God’s awarenes
of God’s blessings in order to encourage them to be pious.
In
one Socrates asked Euthydemus about the care the gods have taken
to provide people with everything they need.
They have given light
to see by, night for a time of rest, stars to mark the night,
and the moon also to define the month.
The earth yields food in
appropriate seasons; water nourishes our bodies;
and because so
much is needed, it is plentiful.
Fire is useful against cold and
darkness.
The sun gradually gets warmer and colder, but neither
extreme is too great.
Euthydemus was able to see the divine design
and the loving kindness of the gods,
but he wondered also that
the lower animals also enjoy these blessings.
Socrates then pointed
out how goats, sheep, horses, oxen, asses, and other animals
are
valuable to people for food and commerce and work.
They considered
how the gods have endowed people with senses adapted
for various
perceptions; also they have granted the faculty of reasoning
and
memory so that we can enjoy the good and eliminate the bad.
We
can express and communicate and share with each other,
enacting
laws and administering states.
Although humans cannot see the
future,
the gods reveal issues through divination to those who
inquire.
At this point Euthydemus noted Socrates’ particular divine
sign as a special blessing.145
Then Socrates explained the invisibility
and the omnipresence of God.
That I tell the truth you will know if,
instead of waiting to see the physical forms of the gods,
you are satisfied to praise and worship them
by seeing their works.
Notice that the gods themselves demonstrate this,
for when they give good things to us,
none of them ever appears before us gift in hand;
and especially the one who coordinates
and holds together the universe
in which all things are beautiful and good,
and who always presents them fresh
and sound and ageless to be used,
and quicker than thought serves unerringly,
that one is seen in the greatest works,
and yet is unseen by us in the managing of them.
Notice that even the sun, who seems to reveal himself to all,
does not allow man to see him closely,
but if anyone attempts to look recklessly at him,
one’s eyes are blinded.
Also the servants of the gods you will find are invisible;
for it is evident that the thunderbolt is hurled from above
and that it conquers all wherever it falls,
but is not seen either coming or striking or going;
and the winds themselves are not seen;
yet what they do is clear to us, and we perceive their approach.
In addition the soul of man,
which more than anything else human partakes of God,
reigns manifestly within us, and yet is itself unseen.
Understanding this, we should not disdain the unseen;
but since by close examination we know their power,
we ought to honor the spiritual.146
Euthydemus questioned how he could ever benefit God, but Socrates
advised him
to follow the counsel of the Delphic god to obey the
laws of the state.
He encouraged Euthydemus to honor the gods
in this way as strictly as he could
so that he could receive the
greatest benefits.147
In such a comprehensive explanation Socrates
indicated to his listener
how many blessings he had for which
he should be grateful.
In another conversation with Aristodemus, Socrates showed that
the design of creation indicates the purpose of a creative God.
When Socrates noticed that Aristodemus the dwarf, as he was called,
did not use prayer or divination and mocked those who did,
Socrates
asked him if he admired any human beings for their wisdom.
Aristodemus
named Homer, Sophocles,
and the outstanding sculptor and painter
of his time.
Socrates asked him to compare the phantoms they created
to living, intelligent, and active beings.
Although he admired
living beings more by far,
he assumed that they were created by
chance.
Socrates asked if the creatures that serve a useful purpose
were more likely to be the result of chance or design.
He then
pointed out how various aspects of man are useful in specific
ways.
We have senses to perceive-eyes to see visible objects,
ears to hear sounds.
What value would odors have if we could not
smell with our nostrils?
Similarly with tastes, what if we had
no tongue to discriminate sweet from bitter and others?
The eyeballs,
being soft, are protected behind eyelids
which open and close
like doors, so we can see or sleep.
Eyelashes filter the winds,
and eyebrows keep forehead perspiration from falling in the eyes.
The ears catch all sounds, but they are not choked with them.
The front teeth are adapted to biting off,
while the molars can
do the grinding and chewing.
The mouth is conveniently placed
next to the nostrils and eyes,
but the ducts of elimination which
release the unpleasant matter
are placed far away from the senses.
Aristodemus was beginning to see the handiwork of a wise and loving
creator.148
Also there is the natural desire to beget children,
the mother’s spontaneous care of the baby,
and the child’s will to live and
fear of death.
Yet how much wisdom can a person have in a mere
speck of all the earth
and a mere drop of all the water that one’s body contains?
As for one’s mind which is weightless, by what
lucky accident did one snap it up,
and are the orderly ranks of
all the huge masses that are infinite in number
caused by some
kind of an absurdity?
Aristodemus was still in doubt because he
did not see the master hand.
Socrates reminded him that he did
not see his own soul either;
but it masters his body.
Certainly
his own life is guided by design and not chance.149
At this point Aristodemus complained that spirit is too great
to need his service;
but Socrates declared that because it serves
him, it is worthy of honor.
To show that man has special favor
from the gods,
Socrates delineated how man is the only creature
to stand upright with a wide range of vision;
we are endowed with
hands, which are particularly useful, and with a tongue,
which
can articulate the voice and express our wishes to each other.
Sex is not limited by a certain season but only by old age.
Man
has the noblest soul, which can understand the gods who set in
order the universe;
only humans worship the gods.
Man provides
against hunger and thirst, cold and heat,
relieves sickness and
promotes health, acquires knowledge by work,
and remembers accurately
all that is heard, seen, or learned.
Compared to other animals,
people live like gods, by nature without equal in body or soul.
The gods have given man the two most precious gifts;
reason for
the soul and hands for the body.150
Next Aristodemus wanted the gods to send counselors with specific
advice
so that he could believe.
Socrates mentioned how the Athenians
used divination
and how portents were sent to all the world.
Would
God have put the belief in man that they can help or harm
if they
did not have the power?
Would not man throughout all the ages
have detected the fraud?
Do you not see that the wisest and most enduring
of human institutions,
cities, and nations, are most god-fearing,
and that the most thoughtful period of life is the most religious?
Be well assured, my good friend, that the mind within you
directs your body according to its will;
and equally you must think that Thought
indwelling in the Universal disposes all things
according to its pleasure.
For think not that your eye can travel over several miles
and yet God’s eye cannot see the whole world at once;
that your soul can ponder on things in Egypt and in Sicily,
and God’s thought is not sufficient
to take care of the whole world at once.
But just as by serving people you find out
who is willing to serve you in return,
by being kind who will be kind to you in return,
and by taking counsel, discover the masters of thought,
so test the gods by serving them,
and see whether they intend to counsel you
in matters hidden from man.
Then you will know that this is the greatness
and this is the nature of the deity
that it sees all things and hears all things,
and is present everywhere and takes care of everything.151
Such explanations by Socrates enabled some skeptics to see
a larger and more
coherent picture of man’s place in the universe
and our relationship to the Creator.
When someone needed help that was beyond the ability of human
wisdom,
then Socrates recommended that the person consult the
gods
through divination as a means of divine guidance and counsel.152
Plato’s Euthyphro
was an unsuccessful attempt to define holiness or piety.
Here
we see Socrates at work refuting a man who claimed to be pious,
but whose action of prosecuting his father for murder because
he allowed
a murdering servant to die (while he consulted a diviner
what to do),
leaves us with serious doubts as to Euthyphro’s piety.
It turned out that none of his definitions of piety held up.153
Perhaps in this case the man’s actions spoke louder than his words.
Socrates used the term philos to mean love in the sense
of a friend
and Eros as the god of Love and Desire.
Xenophon
recorded several conversations on friendship.
Socrates believed
that the best of all possessions was a sincere and good friend.
Yet most people are more careless with their friends
than they
are with their servants or their physical possessions.
If a servant
is ill, they take better care of him than they would a friend;
and people are usually much better at listing their possessions
than the names of their friends.
Even so, a good friend is more
loyal and helpful in watching one’s private fortune
and public
career, in contributing, rescuing from trouble, sharing expenses,
defending one’s position, celebrating success, and helping up
after a fall.154
Socrates was not afraid to put someone on the spot
so that he
might fulfill the obligation of his friendship.
Once when Antisthenes
had been neglecting his poverty-stricken friend,
Socrates asked
him in the presence of his friend, how much value in money
Antisthenes
placed on his different friendships.155
Such a conversation was
obviously designed
to stir the man into action on behalf of his
friend.
In a discussion with Critobulus, Socrates indicated how to test
for the qualities of friendship.
The slave of eating and drinking,
lust, sleep, or idleness
cannot do what he should for himself
or his friend.
Also the spendthrift or the stingy and selfish
business person offers little in friendship.
The quarrelsome person
makes too many enemies,
and the one who receives favors without
giving anything in return
does not win friendship either.
Socrates
suggested,
We shall look for one who controls his indulgenc
in the pleasures of the body,
who is truly hospitable and fair in his dealings
and eager to do as much for his benefactors
as he receives from them, so that he is worth knowing.156
To test these qualities, Socrates recommended that they look
at the person’s works
to see if they were good and beautiful,
just as they would look at the works
of a sculptor or examine
how an owner of horses treated his animals.157
At this point Critobulus asked Socrates how he could go about
winning a friend.
As usual Socrates first suggested that they
ask for the guidance
of the gods in choosing the prospective friend.
Rather than hunting the person like an enemy or slave, Socrates
mentioned that
there are charms that can be sung, as the Sirens
put a spell on Odysseus.
This charm consisted of praising the
person on one’s good points.
Of course to make good friends, one
must be a good and helpful person.
However, many people and states
also attempt to do good and avoid evil,
but they quarrel and treat
others harshly as they do so.
When such rogues fight with each
other for the leadership of states,
the friendly elements in people
work together in parties;
but the hostile elements become angry,
fight jealously, and take sides.
Some, then, seek friends in politics
so that they can win honor, exercise power over others,
and live
in luxury; these are bound to be unjust, unscrupulous, and incapable
of unity.
The true gentleman, however, seeks to help his friends
in a just cause
so that they will not be the victims of injustice;
he will be most able to benefit his country.
It is preferable
to show kindness to the best.
Therefore, Critobulus ought to strive
to be good and go after his gentleman.
Socrates offered to assist
him by telling the gentleman honestly about Critobulus
and how
he feels toward the man and the importance he places on friendship.
However, Critobulus must study and practice virtue so that he
will be thought good.158
Thus a discussion of friendship became
an exhortation to become a better person.
Xenophon recorded how Socrates
and his friends went
to see the beautiful woman of pleasure, Theodote.
After pointing out how they benefit her by looking at her beauty
and becoming her admirers,
Socrates gave her advice how she could
be successful in obtaining friends.
What she needed was an agent,
who like a hound, would track down
and find rich men who would
desire her company.
Then she could trap them by the net of her
body maneuvered sensitively by the soul.
However, she must not
grant her favors too readily,
but only when the man’s desire was
peaked.
She asked Socrates to become her partner, and he agreed,
provided that she came to him as did the others
such as Apollodorus,
Antisthenes, Cebes, and Simmias.159
Leave it to Socrates to get
the courtesan running after him!
Plato dealt with the theme of
friendship in the Lysis.
First Socrates showed Hippothales how he should
humble his friend
Lysis by demonstrating that he needed to learn.
In this dialog
Socrates declared that he had always wanted a good friend,
but
he had never been able to find one.
They argued about whether
the lover or the beloved or both were the friends.
Friendship
appears to require that love is given and returned,
but through
examples of a love-hate relationship Socrates confused his listeners
into believing that neither the lover nor the beloved nor both
were really friends.
Similar confusion surrounded the discussion
of the like and unlike
and whether the good or the evil loves
the good.
That good is loved for the sake of evil is only a relative
answer and not an ultimate solution.
Congeniality appeared to
be a factor in the attraction of friendship,
but this appeared
to contradict the idea that the like is useless to the like.160
The discussion had no solid conclusion at all and seemed to have
the main purpose
of stimulating the young men to think about these
issues without giving them the final answers.
Love in the erotic sense was the only subject Socrates claimed
to understand.161
In his Symposium,
which shows a knowledge of Plato’s Symposium,
Xenophon
included a speech by Socrates on why spiritual love and friendship
are better than physical and sexual love.
Socrates began by observing
that Love is enthroned in the heart of man as a mighty god,
and
all of them are influenced by love.
He made a distinction between
the Aphrodite that is Heavenly,
which represents spiritual love,
friendship and the beauty of goodness,
and the Vulgar Aphrodite
of carnal love.
Hermogenes who was seeking virtue commented how
Socrates
was educating Callias toward the ideal by praising his
noble conduct.
Socrates explained why the spiritual love is better than the carnal.
The lusts of the body care only that they are temporarily satisfied
and fade away
as youthful beauty passes with age, but the soul
becomes increasingly lovable
as it progresses toward wisdom.
Physical
love is the gratification of an appetite,
but the spiritual is
a more enduring goodness.
Returning spiritual love is more reasonable
because one is being recognized as
a pattern of the gentleman
(beautiful and good),
which does not alter when the physical appearance
changes.
Spiritual love begets a mutual trust, happy friendship,
and a sense of unity and sharing.
However, there is little to
lead a person to return the love which is based only on the flesh;
the object of such love often does not share the same passion
and may be ashamed of the relationship.
Socrates used the analogy
of a farm.
Physical love is like renting a farm to get as much
harvest as one can
over a short period of time, while spiritual
love is like owning the farm
and really taking care of it and
seeing that it is improved.
Spiritual love also stimulates one
to practice virtue oneself,
so that one’s beloved will become
self-controlled and honorable.
Socrates then cited examples from
myth, legend, and recent history of gods and people
who demonstrated
the importance and value of friendship and spiritual love.162
Here Xenophon portrayed Socrates
explaining
the common sense differences of the two qualities of
love.
In Plato’s Symposium
Socrates moved into a more philosophic explanation of cosmic love.
Instead of defining Love as a thing in one place or another, Socrates
described Love
as a moving energy which serves as a mean, a kind
of link or bridge,
between opposites such as good and evil, spirit
and matter, gods and people, etc.
He did this by first examining
Eros as a primordial or cosmic desire
which implies a movement
toward something rather than a possession of something.
Love is
not the beautiful and good, but what moves us toward them.
Socrates
confessed that he learned these things from the mysterious Diotima.
Love is a spirit which moves between the gods and humans,
the
offspring of the opposites Plenty and Poverty.
Love moves toward
wisdom and beauty and goodness.
The possession of these is happiness,
and love is what
motivates people to give birth in beauty to these
ideals.
Why does love seek generation?
According to Diotima, it
is so that the possession of the good
will be lasting, the ultimate
being eternal.
Therefore love desires immortality.
Love seeks
immortality by means of physical procreation, fame, and virtuous
actions.
Ultimately love transcends the individual and particular
and moves into universal truth
and the ideals of beauty and goodness.
By this process of spiritual loving, one moves from the earthly
to the heavenly and divine.
The truly virtuous person then becomes
the friend of God and immortal.163
Here Socrates’ description
of love still leads to the spiritual,
but he took his listeners
through a process
which could move and raise their consciousness.
Love is also described by Socrates in the Phaedrus
as a divine madness.
This metaphorical description of love was
described in the previous chapter.
Here again love is seen as
a spiritual quality caused by divine inspiration.
In addition to discussing in a philosophic manner various themes,
Socrates occasionally
turned his attention to the role of the
philosopher, his nature and methods,
and what education would
be most appropriate for that.
In Plato’s Sophist the philosopher is called divine and is said by
Socrates to appear
in many disguises as they visit mankind “beholding from above the life of those below.”164
How are philosophers
able to get this divine perspective on life?
In the Theaetetus
Socrates compared his style of life to the lawyer who was always
busy
in the law courts trying to devise clever and crooked arguments
to win his case.
In contrast, the philosopher lives a simple life
unconcerned with daily business or reputation.
That one appears
awkward and ignorant of the particular details
and is usually
laughed at by the general public.
However, one uses his liberty
and leisure to study the true essences of what is
man and justice
and government and happiness, and how they are attained.165
The
philosophers are the initiated who understand the invisible essences,
which are so important in the good life.
Earlier in the same dialog
Socrates commented, “The uninitiated are those who believe
in nothing except what they can grasp in their hands,
and who deny the existence of actions and generation and all that is invisible.”166
One of the prime requisites of the philosopher, then,
is to recognize
and work with abstract ideas.
Socrates was portrayed by Plato
as being concerned with abstract ideas
and their relation to concrete
objects from the time of his youth
when he debated with Zeno and
Parmenides.167
In the Phaedo
Socrates made extensive use of abstract ideas
and the doctrine
of recollection which supports the theory
that the soul always
has the ability to know what the ideas are.
Socrates pointed out
that the ideas are more perfect
than the things we perceive through
the senses.
For example, we can have an idea of perfect equality
in our mind,
but we could not find two material objects,
such
as wood or stone, which are exactly equal.
Objects change, but
the idea of equality is always the same.
Therefore, the ideas
are enduring and may have been known to our souls before.168
The
philosopher is concerned not only with the eternal ideas
but also
with the purity of the soul itself which knows those ideas.
Although
the soul is unseen and intangible, it is lasting, true being.
Therefore the philosopher cares more for the soul which is unchanging
than for the body which is corruptible and mortal.
The philosopher
keeps oneself as clear as one can
from the pleasures and pains
of the body;
rather one works to liberate the soul from these
chains to the body.169
Finally Socrates expounded upon the idea
he discovered in Anaxagoras that mind is the cause of everything.
Man’s actions are purposeful focuses on the causes in life
rather
than on the effects and results.170
If we are to change the pattern
of our life experience,
then we must examine and improve the real
causes and origins of our actions.
In the Republic Socrates
discussed the activities and education of the philosopher.
He
complained that philosophy had been misunderstood
because of the
superficial ways it was being practiced haphazardly.
Some learned
a little bit about argument and entered into controversies to
display
their skill at refutation without having any true understanding
of the issues.
Philosophy also got a bad name from those who compared
and criticized persons
instead of examining the immutable principles
and the divine order for the best human society.171
To educate the philosopher kings, Socrates recommended
much more
than music and gymnastics.
The candidates for the highest responsibility
must study arithmetic, as numbers
and mathematical concepts are
the origin of the intelligible things.
This is to be followed
by geometry and its practical application, astronomy,
and solid
geometry of the three dimensions.
As these are visual, the auditory
is to be studied through harmonics.
Then these subjects are to
be correlated with each other,
and the process of dialectic begins.
Dialectic is pure reasoning and is concerned with first principles,
inquiry, and the relationships of concepts.
Ultimately everything
is to be related to the good, for it is the central sun
of the
intelligible world; in other words, all thought and actions are
to be good.
The characteristics needed for this education are
intelligence, memory,
physical and intellectual discipline, industriousness,
love of truth,
and the virtues of self-control, courage, greatness,
and others.
None of these studies should be forced on the youth,
but they should learn them by play.
At age twenty the best will
be selected to study for ten years
the relationships between the
various sciences.
Again at thirty the most promising will be selected
to study philosophy for five years.
Their education is not complete
until they spend fifteen more years
in practical experience handling
offices of the state.
Finally after fifty they will spend their
time focusing on the light of the absolute good
as they advise
the state according to the divine pattern.172
This may be a plan
for an ideal state,
but the suggestions Socrates made could still
be pursued by an individual.
The relationship between the abstractions learned in arithmetic
and the higher dialectic was also discussed by Socrates in the Philebus.
Here the distinction was made between an impure
science and a
pure science pursued by philosophers for the sake
of perfect accuracy and truth.
The pure science of dialectic deals
with the eternal
and unchangeable realities which are the clearest
truth.
Wisdom, then, is the contemplation of true being.173
Thus
dialectic leads one toward the higher realities.
In the Phaedrus also Socrates stated
that those who employ the dialectic
of discerning the true nature
of things based on the first principles of justice
and goodness
and beauty are worthy of
being called lovers of wisdom, or philosophers.174
Thus Socrates described the high art of the philosopher.
The constant reference to the good is the cornerstone of the
dialectical process.
In the Philebus Socrates and his companions
were seeking the good life.
They decided they must mix some pleasures
as are necessary with wisdom and practical knowledge.
However,
they eliminated the impure pleasures that are not needed in the
experience of life.
The ideals of beauty and truth were found
to be indispensable to the good life,
and balance and appropriateness
the qualities which lead to these.
Fitness and harmonious proportion
were then followed by wisdom, the sciences and arts,
and finally
the pure pleasures as the essential characteristics of the good
life.175
The good, along with the ideals of beauty and truth,
served as the beacon light
to qualify and evaluate all of the
choices and guidelines of living.
The good was described in the Republic
through the metaphor of the sun
and the allegory of the cave as
being the transcendent spiritual reality
which illuminates all
intelligence and knowing;
it is beyond even the ideals and is
the source of being.
It is the center of the universe and the
perfect guide as the giver of light
to the enlightened soul who
has traveled beyond the world of shadows.
When the liberated soul
returns to the reflected world of the prisoners,
one must always
keep one’s vision focused on the good.176
Socrates used the good
as the focus of spiritual reality;
but by using this abstract
term instead of God or Spirit,
the continual emphasis and reminder
is on its practical use,
as in good thoughts, good actions, good
whatever.
Xenophon had Socrates define
both the good and the beautiful simply as what is useful.177
Also
in the Greater Hippias attributed to Plato,
the beautiful was looked at
in terms of being appropriate, useful,
and beneficial.
Beauty is also considered as pleasing or enjoyable
in sight or hearing;
beauty then becomes a kind of beneficial
pleasure.178
Here we see a similarity to the conclusions of the Philebus,
and the close relation between the good and this
ideal of beauty.
Socrates was wary of being led astray in an argument
about the
application of these concepts.
Xenophon
recorded how Aristippus attempted to trip him up
by asking if
he knew of anything good.
Socrates carefully asked if he meant
good for a certain purpose,
for anything could be good for one
thing and bad for something else.
The same is true of whether
something is considered beautiful or not;
it depends on its function
or purpose.
Socrates concluded, “For all things are good and beautiful in relation to
those purposes for which they are well adapted,
bad and ugly in relation to these for which they are ill adapted.”179
Discussion of abstractions is one thing;
but when applying them
to particular situations, one must be specific
and qualifying.
Once when someone asked Socrates what was the best pursuit
for
a person, he replied, "Doing well."
The person wondered
whether he meant the pursuit of good luck.
Socrates explained
that luck and doing are at opposite extremes.
Luck happens without
effort, but doing something well follows from study and practice.
“The best people and those who are beloved of God are those
who do well;
if it is farming, as good farmers; if medicine, as
good doctors; if politics, as good politicians.
Whoever does nothing
well is neither useful in any way nor beloved of God.”180
The highest principles are ultimately the most simple,
and Xenophon gave it to us from Socrates
as practical common sense.
Most of the discussions by Socrates on the immortality of the
soul
are found in the works of Plato.
However, Xenophon did indicate
that Socrates was aware
that the soul leaves the body at death.
“As soon as the soul, the only seat of intelligence, is gone out of a person,
we carry out the body and hide it in the tomb.”181
Xenophon seemed to be more
concerned with
the practicalities of this life, rather than with
eternity.
In public Socrates spoke about death in such a way as not to offend
the uninitiated.
In Plato’s Defense of Socrates he presented
his audience with two alternatives.
Either death is the end of
consciousness, a nothingness, or dreamless sleep;
or death begins
the migration of the soul to the other world
where one may visit
old friends and the souls of past history.
In either case, death
is not bad, but a blessing.182
Because his trial was not the time
or place to instruct people concerning
the true nature of the
soul, he simply presented two reasonable choices,
reminding them
that although he went to die and they to live,
only God knows
which is better.
In more intimate conversations Socrates presented many theories
concerning the soul.
In the Philebus Socrates declared
that the soul which organizes and heals the body
and contains
the sum of all wisdom must be derived from the universal intelligence,
which wisely and justly arranges all creation.
Wisdom and intellect
come from the soul, which is the cause of all things.183
This
idea that soul and mind are the ordering principle of all things
was also echoed
in the Cratylus where the soul was also
identified
as the source of life and power of the breath in the
body.184
In the Meno Socrates
advocated that the soul is immortal and knows everything from
eternity.
It is born many times, and education is the process
of awakening the knowledge
inherent in the soul from before birth.185
The ability of the soul to recognize truth within itself when
it sees it
out in the world demonstrates this principle that the
soul is the eternal knower.
Several characteristics of the soul were described by Socrates
in the Philebus.
Before going into a figure, Socrates used
transcendental logic
to prove that the soul as the self-moving
principle must be immortal.
The logic is transcendental because
it deals with the eternal
as that which has no beginning and yet
is the beginning of all.
Every soul is immortal, for the ever-moving is immortal;
but what moves another or is moved by another,
ceasing to move ceases to have life.
Only the self-moving which never leaves itself,
never ceases to move, and this is also the source
and beginning of motion for all other things which move.
The beginning is unbegotten,
for everything which is begotten has a beginning,
but the beginning is not begotten from anything;
for if the beginning were begotten from anything,
then the begotten would not come from the beginning.
Since the beginning is unbegotten, it must also be indestructible;
for if the beginning were destroyed,
it could never be begotten from anything nor anything else from it,
since all things must come from the beginning.
Thus the self-moving is the beginning of motion.
This can be neither destroyed nor begotten,
or else the whole heaven and all of creation would collapse
and stop and never again have motion or birth.
But the self-moving has been shown to be immortal,
and one who says that this self-motion is the essence
and the very idea of the soul will not be disgraced.
For every body which is moved from without is soulless,
but that which is moved from within itself is the nature of the soul.
And if this is true, that nothing else but the soul moves itself,
then the soul must necessarily be unbegotten and immortal.186
Such an argument shows how the soul transcends the limitations
of time and space.
In the figure of the chariot and the pair of winged horses, Socrates
described
the ability of the soul to transcend into the heavenly
worlds
provided the charioteer can correctly guide the horses.
In the higher realms the soul can follow after various of the
divine patterns
as symbolized by the different gods and goddesses.
It is in these higher realms where the soul perceives the eternal
truths.
The souls which lose their wings of transcendence fall
down to earth
and reincarnate in various types of human experience.
The philosophers are the ones working to
grow back their wings
by studying universal truths.
Many people seek out beauty in an
attempt to re-capture the original beatific vision
of the light
experienced before the soul became imprisoned in a body.
This
is why people experience ecstasy when they find some earthly beauty
which in some way approaches the divine; this experience is called
love.187
The souls on earth still follow the pattern of their god.
The
good and bad horses represent the two aspects of character
which
can be virtuous and modest or emotionally unrestrained.
If by
the charioteer’s efforts the passion can be moderated into friendship,
then the lover and the beloved can share a beautiful interchange
of love.
If through order and philosophy they are able to master
themselves,
the love in their souls will continue to awaken, their
wings will grow,
and they will be prepared for their heavenly
flight.
If not, and they give into sensual indulgence; then they
must continue their earthly sojourns.
When they do attain their
heavenly pilgrimage, the plumage in their wings
will match because
of their love for each other.188
Through this imaginative rendering,
Socrates encouraged his listeners to pursue the heavenly way.
In the Republic Socrates
described the tripartite nature of the soul as
the appetites which
can lead to moneymaking,
the aggressive which can make one ambitious,
and the learning or reasoning which leads to the love of wisdom.
The philosophical is the most capable of ruling.
The symbolic
image of these is the combination of
a many-headed beast, a lion,
and a person.
The respective virtues of each are self-control,
courage, and wisdom.
When wisdom, which is the most divine quality,
is governing,
then the energies are successfully employed, and
the soul is in harmony.189
Socrates spoke to the intellect of
his listeners and said in effect,
“Take charge of your life!”
As Socrates described the rewards of justice and virtue, he noted
that
even the most evil and vicious person cannot destroy one’s own soul.
Therefore since the disease of the soul, which is vice,
does not destroy it,
then the soul must be immortal.
Also if the
souls died off, where would the new souls come from?
To see the
soul in its purity, we must not look at it
when still marred by
the appearance of the body,
but contemplate the soul with the
eye of reason.
If we do, we will find that the love of wisdom
and virtue
are intimations of its divine and eternal quality.190
Finally in the tale of Er, Socrates recounted how the soul leaves
the body at death
and travels in the other worlds between lives,
how it chooses its own life destiny before it returns to earth, and why philosophy
is such a valuable guide not only in this world,
but also in the next.191
The soul as our eternal beingness is
always with us;
therefore consider how important it is that we
take care of ourselves!
The classic text on the immortality of the soul is Plato’s Phaedo
which describes
the last hours of Socrates’ life on earth.
While awaiting the
time of his execution, Socrates made
the somewhat surprising and
humorous statement that the philosopher seeks death.
They laughed,
because many people might nod in agreement
at this description
of the philosopher.
However, there is a secret doctrine against
suicide as if man were a prisoner
who had no right to open the
door and run away.
Socrates explained that this mystery is because
the gods are our guardians,
and we humans are a possession of
theirs.
We must wait until the gods call us.
Socrates was not
at all upset by death, because he believed he was going to the
gods
who are wise and good.
The reason why even in life the philosopher
is always dying is because
death is the release of the soul from
the body,
and the philosopher is continually striving to free
the soul from
the desires, pleasures, and pains of the body.
The
philosopher is looking for the truth, and because the senses are
imperfect guides,
one turns one’s attention to the ideals and
the intelligence of the soul.
The soul perceives best directly
within itself.
When God releases us from the “foolishness of the body,
we shall be pure and know ourselves all that is pure.”
Ultimate purification then is the final release from the body
at death.
Thus the philosopher practices dying and rejoices at
the ultimate liberation.192
Socrates obviously had no fear of death, but his friends still
had many doubts.
Therefore he took this time to reason with them
about the immortality of the soul.
Socrates began with the ancient
doctrine of reincarnation
to show that souls exist before birth
and after death.
Opposites are generated out of their opposites,
and therefore the living come from the dead, and the dead come
from the living,
just like with sleeping and waking.
Again the
complete cycle is needed if all souls are not to end up dead.
The theory of recollection that learning is the awakening of awareness
known before birth implies also that the soul has a previous existence.193
To show that the soul continues to exist after death, Socrates
combined the theory of
opposites with the understanding of the
absolute essences which transcend the physical.
The soul exemplifies
the principles of the invisible, unchanging, ruling, ordering.
All of the qualities of the soul are better and longer lasting
than the characteristics of the body.
The soul which is kept pure
through philosophy will more likely go to the gods,
which it resembles,
than the soul which has been dragged down
through the visible
world by attachments to bodily things.
Socrates expressed confidence
that the soul which is kept clear of the pleasures
and pains of
the body will not be scattered to the winds at death,
but Simmias
and Cebes still were not sure.194
Socrates mentioned that the swans are prophetic and sing in anticipation
of their deaths, not from sorrow but for joy.
The theory that
the soul is like a harmony is proven fallacious by the theory
of
recollection as the harmony does not precede its elements,
nor does it have knowledge, nor is it a ruling principle;
a harmony
admits of degrees of concord and dissonance,
but the soul has
no degrees as to its being.
Finally Socrates explained how the
absolute essences cannot admit their opposite.
Because the soul
is the essence of life, there is no way it could become death.
Therefore, the soul is immortal.
It is generally recognized that
God and the essential form of life
and the immortal will never
perish.
Thus when death attacks a person, the body may die;
but
the immortal soul retires at the approach of death and is preserved
safe and sound,
and it truly exists in another world.195
Having demonstrated the logical proof, Socrates moved right into
a description
of the other world, where the souls live after they
have departed from the physical realm.
These higher worlds are
lighter, brighter, more beautiful and diverse.
Socrates gave a
detailed description of various rivers, or currents of energy.
Although he did not claim that this is a precise picture,
he gave
his listeners enough
information so that they could conceive of
the nature and vastness of the other worlds.196
Socrates allayed
many of their fears and shared extensive knowledge with his friends.
As we shall explore more fully in the next chapter,
Socrates lived
and died in harmony with his teachings.
He calmly and peacefully
took the poison which released him from his physical body.
130. Xenophon Memorabilia IV, iv, 5-12.
131. Xenophon Memorabilia IV, iv, 13-25.
132. Xenophon Memorabilia IV, vi, 5-6.
133. Plato Defense of Socrates 28-30.
134. Ibid. 34-35.
135. Plato Crito 50-54.
136. Plato Gorgias 469-480.
137. Ibid. 508-513.
138. Ibid. 523-526.
139. Plato Republic I, 331-336.
140. Ibid. I, 351-352.
141. Ibid. II, 358.
142. Ibid. III, 408-409.
143. Ibid. X, 612-616.
144. Xenophon Memorabilia IV, vi, 2-4.
145. Xenophon Memorabilia IV, iii, 2-12.
146. Xenophon Memorabilia IV, iii, 13-14.
147. Xenophon Memorabilia IV, iii, 15-17.
148. Xenophon Memorabilia I, iv, 2-7.
149. Xenophon Memorabilia I, iv, 7-9.
150. Xenophon Memorabilia I, iv, 10-14.
151. Xenophon Memorabilia I, iv, 15-18.
152. Xenophon Memorabilia IV, vii, 10.
153. Plato Euthyphro 2-15.
154. Xenophon Memorabilia II, iv, 1-7.
155. Xenophon Memorabilia II, vi, 1-5.
156. Xenophon Memorabilia II, vi 1-5.
157. Xenophon Memorabilia II, vi, 6-7.
158. Xenophon Memorabilia II, vi, 8-39.
159. Xenophon Memorabilia III, xi, 1-18.
160. Plato Lysis 205-223.
161. Plato Symposium 177.
162. Xenophon Symposium VIII, 1-41.
163. Plato Symposium 199-212.
164. Plato Sophist 216.
165. Plato Theaetetus 172-175.
166. Ibid. 155.
167. Plato Parmenides 129-135.
168. Plato Phaedo 72-77.
169. Ibid. 80-84.
170. Ibid. 97-100.
171. Plato Republic VI, 498-500.
172. Ibid. 521-541.
173. Plato Philebus 55-59.
174. Plato Phaedrus 276-278.
175. Plato Philebus 61-66.
176. Plato Republic VI-VII, 505-521.
177. Xenophon Memorabilia IV, vi, 8-9.
178. Plato Greater Hippias 290-300.
179. Xenophon Memorabilia III, viii, 1-7.
180. Xenophon Memorabilia . III, ix, 14-15.
181. Xenophon Memorabilia I, ii, 53.
182. Plato Defense of Socrates 40-42.
183. Plato Philebus 30.
184. Plato. Cratylus 399-400.
185. Plato Meno 81-86.
186. Plato Phaedrus 245-246.
187. Ibid. 246-252.
188. Ibid. 252-257.
189. Plato Republic IX, 580-592.
190. Ibid. X, 608-621.
191. Ibid. X, 617-621.
192. Plato Phaedo 61-68.
193. Ibid. 70-77.
194. Ibid. 77-84.
195. Ibid. 85-106.
196. Ibid. 107-114.
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