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Suicide in the Phaedo

Suicide in the Phaedo AbstractIn the Phaedo the character Socrates argues that suicide is morally wrong. This is in fact one of only two places in the entire Platonic corpus where suicide is discussed. It is a brief passage, and a notoriously perplexing one. In this article, I distinguish between two arguments that Socrates gives in support of his claim. I argue that one of them (what I call the Gods Argument) is not to be taken literally, while the other (what I call the Prison Argument) represents the deeper reason for the prohibition of suicide. I further relate the question of suicide to the overarching concerns of the Phaedo as a whole: the nature of our incarnate “imprisonment”, the nature and purpose of philosophy, the philosophical “purification” of the soul, the human pursuit of knowledge, and the nature of the divine. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Rhizomata de Gruyter

Suicide in the Phaedo

Werner, Daniel
Rhizomata , Volume 6 (2): 32 – Nov 27, 2018
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32 pages

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
ISSN
2196-5110
eISSN
2196-5110
DOI
10.1515/rhiz-2018-0008
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractIn the Phaedo the character Socrates argues that suicide is morally wrong. This is in fact one of only two places in the entire Platonic corpus where suicide is discussed. It is a brief passage, and a notoriously perplexing one. In this article, I distinguish between two arguments that Socrates gives in support of his claim. I argue that one of them (what I call the Gods Argument) is not to be taken literally, while the other (what I call the Prison Argument) represents the deeper reason for the prohibition of suicide. I further relate the question of suicide to the overarching concerns of the Phaedo as a whole: the nature of our incarnate “imprisonment”, the nature and purpose of philosophy, the philosophical “purification” of the soul, the human pursuit of knowledge, and the nature of the divine.

Journal

Rhizomata – de Gruyter

Published: Nov 27, 2018

References

  • “Plato, Phaedo 62a”
  • “Socratic Suicide?”
  • “Who Did Forbid Suicide at Phaedo 62b?”
  • The Greek Commentaries on Plato’s Phaedo
  • “Greek Philosophers on Euthanasia and Suicide.”
  • “Did Socrates Commit Suicide?”
  • “Notes on Plato’s Phaedo”
  • Socratic Rationalism and Political Philosophy: An Interpretation of Plato’s Phaedo
  • Loving and Dying: A Reading of Plato’s Phaedo, Symposium, and Phaedrus
  • “Notes on Plato’s Phaedo”
  • “Socrates’ Alleged Suicide”
  • “Suicide Among the Sick in Classical Antiquity”
  • “Plato on Suicide (Phaedo 60c-63c)”
  • Plato: Five Dialogues
  • Myth and Metaphysics in Plato’s Phaedo
  • “Myth and the Structure of the Euthyphro”
  • “Callimachus on Plato and Cleombrotus”
  • The Deathday of Socrates: Living, Dying, and Immortality – the Theater of Ideas in Plato’s Phaedo
  • The Greek Commentaries on Plato’s Phaedo
  • Platonis Phaedo
  • Socratic Rationalism and Political Philosophy: An Interpretation of Plato’s Phaedo
  • Review of R. S. Bluck’s
  • “Plato on Suicide (Phaedo 60c-63c)”
  • Philosophy Before Socrates
  • Plato’s Phaedo
  • “Cleombrotus of Ambracia: Interpretations of a Suicide From Callimachus to Agathias.”
  • “Who Did Forbid Suicide at Phaedo 62b?”
  • Groaning Tears: Ethical and Dramatic Aspects of Suicide in Greek Tragedy
  • The Death of Socrates and the Life of Philosophy: An Interpretation of Plato’s Phaedo
  • Plato’s Phaedo: An Interpretation
  • Plato
  • “Plato and Nietzsche on Death: An Introduction to Plato’s Phaedo”
  • “Socratic Suicide”
  • Suicide: The Philosophical Dimensions
  • The Phaedo of Plato
  • “Socrates’ Alleged Suicide”
  • Plato: Phaedo
  • “Suicide and Self-Murder.”
  • The Greek Commentaries on Plato’s Phaedo
  • Suicide and Morality: The Theories of Plato, Aquinas and Kant and Their Relevance for Suicidology
  • Plato’s Phaedo
  • From Autothanasia to Suicide: Self-Killing in Classical Antiquity
  • The Phaedo: A Platonic Labyrinth
  • Plato’s Phaedo: An Interpretation
  • “Did Socrates Kill Himself Intentionally?”
  • Review of R. S. Bluck’s
  • Plato: Phaedo
  • “Plato, Phaedo, 62a”
  • “Suicide Among the Sick in Classical Antiquity”
  • The Phaedo: A Platonic Labyrinth
  • “Plato, Phaedo 62a”
  • “Socratic Suicide?”
  • Suicide and Morality: The Theories of Plato, Aquinas and Kant and Their Relevance for Suicidology
  • Plato’s Phaedo
  • Plato: Phaedo
  • Myth and Metaphysics in Plato’s Phaedo
  • Loving and Dying: A Reading of Plato’s Phaedo, Symposium, and Phaedrus
  • Suicide: The Philosophical Dimensions
  • Stoic Philosophy
  • Plato
  • “Myth and the Structure of the Euthyphro”
  • Plato’s Phaedo
  • The Greek Commentaries on Plato’s Phaedo
  • Plato: Phaedo
  • “Suicide, A Question of Motivation”.
  • Plato’s Phaedo
  • Plato’s Phaedo
  • “Cleombrotus of Ambracia: Interpretations of a Suicide From Callimachus to Agathias.”
  • “Did Socrates Commit Suicide?”
  • “Suicide in Classical Mythology: An Essay”
  • Stoic Philosophy
  • “Suicide in Classical Mythology: An Essay”
  • “Plato, Phaedo, 62a”
  • “Greek Philosophers on Euthanasia and Suicide.”
  • Philosophy Before Socrates
  • The Deathday of Socrates: Living, Dying, and Immortality – the Theater of Ideas in Plato’s Phaedo
  • From Autothanasia to Suicide: Self-Killing in Classical Antiquity
  • “Socratic Suicide”
  • “Callimachus on Plato and Cleombrotus”
  • Plato’s Phaedo
  • “Did Socrates Kill Himself Intentionally?”
  • “Suicide and Self-Murder.”
  • “Plato and Nietzsche on Death: An Introduction to Plato’s Phaedo”
  • From Time to Eternity: A Companion to Plato’s Phaedo
  • Platonis Phaedo
  • Plato: Five Dialogues
  • Groaning Tears: Ethical and Dramatic Aspects of Suicide in Greek Tragedy
  • “Suicide, A Question of Motivation”.
  • From Time to Eternity: A Companion to Plato’s Phaedo
  • The Death of Socrates and the Life of Philosophy: An Interpretation of Plato’s Phaedo
  • Plato’s Phaedo
  • The Phaedo of Plato