Plato's Use of Phaedo

The dialogue of Phaedo, to me, is a masterpiece because of the way Plato utilized his characters. Plato states that he was not present during Socrates final hours which makes me wonder, why did he choose to speak on Socrates behalf? I presume that this dialogue is actually Plato's interpretation of Phaedo's recollection of the discussion between Socrates, Crito, Simmias, Cebes, and himself. Are the argument's used by the figure of Socrates formulated by Plato? I think Plato was trying to find a way to cope with Socrates decision to drink the  Hemlock without hesitation. Maybe Plato theorized that Socrates was more than just a body and that his soul must live on. The Socrates portrayed in Phaedo claimed that only a true philosopher, one who is courageous and brave, will embrace death because only the body will die. Dying is the opposite of living thus living is the opposite of dying and you cannot have one without the other. Is is possible for someone to fully accept that in order to live death must follow or fair to assume that only a true philosopher does so? This is ironic to me because Plato is said to have been devastated by Socrates death.

Comments

  1. Rose_MFebruary 4, 2017 at 6:27 PM

    If we consider Plato as a writer, he may have used the opportunity in writing Phaedo to discuss topics that perplexed him. I agree with you that it may be a coping mechanism, however, it was a while after Socrates death that Plato started to write the dialogues, so he may have been using Phaedo to think about why someone would not fear death not why his friend chose to die. I feel as though Plato knew Socrates well and knew that that would have been his choice all along. As we read in Crito Socrates had a chance to live longer and chose not to flee.

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  2. Matt SillimanFebruary 5, 2017 at 5:12 PM

    Be careful of assuming that the character Socrates speaks for Plato. I like Rose's formulation that he used the opportunity to discuss topics that perplexed him. Neither Plato nor the historical Socrates may actually have agreed with the very strange arguments we see here -- the point is the exploration itself, and the sunousia it entails.

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