Death and After Life
According to Plato the practice of philosophy is a practice in dying and death. He argues that a man a philosopher needs to be cheerful in the face of death since it is the fulfillment of what he or she has desired to have. Philosopher search for knowledge which is hard to find when entangled with the body. In this regard, they tend to separate their soul from their body to find this knowledge. They tend to ignore the bodily and worldly desires which can interfere with searching for the knowledge which only the soul can acquire when separated from the body (P.587). By separating their body from the body, they try to live the life after death which involves the separation of the body and the soul.
Read also Plato – Philosopher Biography
This way they are able to search for knowledge which is immortal and divine. The desire to search knowledge makes them live as if they are dead. They desire the separation of the soul from the body and hence they are more likely to enjoy dying since it gives them the fulfillment they desire for. Death will be just a fulfillment to their desire. Thus unlike other people who invest in the body and hence hate death, philosopher invest in the soul and thus, their separation with the body should bring great joy. Death should not be painful to them; on the contrary it should be considered a great fulfillment, a great achievement since through it they get to live forever. Philosophers in Plato view lives in struggle tying to separate body from the soul to achieve the divine wisdom, however, during death, god free them from the weak, evil, and mortal body (P.589), and this is why they should be happy while dying. Death marks the end of their struggle and it acts as an assurance of their easy life where they can seek knowledge without obstruction from the body.
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