I have been focusing part of my reading plan on the subject of philosophy. My main interest is the Stoics, but I took a little detour to examine Socrates. After all, the Stoics considered him a role model and a sage. I read The Republic by Plato, which focuses on justice and what a just city and its citizens should look like, but I wanted to learn a little more about Socrates as a man and about his philosophy. I decided that The Last Days of Socrates was the best way to do that.

The Last Days of Socrates is a collection of four philosophical dialogues written by Plato: Euthyphro (events outside the court of Athens, right before Socrates enters his preliminary hearing), Apology (his trial), Crito (his time in prison), and Phaedo (his execution). Together, they chronicle the final weeks of Socrates’ life in 399 BC. This book explores Socrates’ philosophy on the subjects of living and dying, which is what I’m more interested in.

I’m not a philosopher, just a man in pursuit of knowledge in areas that are of great interest to me. I guess this is my mid-life crisis. I know some men enter this phase and want to feel young again. Maybe that’s why they buy a new sports car. In my case, books and learning are how I’m managing my mid-life crisis.

With all that said, I just wanted to highlight that I’m not an expert, so I’m only going to highlight the areas that I found interesting. Of course, I always read with a critical eye, and my Christian bias is always there, although I’m always open-minded. In the book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Dr. Mark A. Noll stated:

“American evangelicals are not exemplary for their thinking, and they have not been so for several generations… modern American evangelicals have failed notably in sustaining serious intellectual life.”¹

I don’t want to be part of that group that refuses to engage in meaningful intellectual work, so part of my reading plan focuses on closing some of my learning gaps. I know some true philosophers will read this review and find gaps. I know. But my reading goal is to find information that is valuable to me as I continue to improve my knowledge, not to enter a public stage and start debating philosophers.

As I stated at the beginning, The Last Days of Socrates is a collection of four dialogues. The edition I read was published by Penguin Classics and translated by Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant, who also wrote the introduction and notes. The notes are excellent.

The first dialogue is Euthyphro, and the setting is outside the court of Athens. There, Socrates meets Euthyphro, a religious prosecutor who is taking his own father to court for murder. Socrates has been accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. The dialogue between Euthyphro and Socrates is about the subject of holiness, or piety.

In this dialogue, Euthyphro claims to be an expert on religion and defines “piety” (morality/holiness) as “whatever all the gods approve of, and that its opposite, what all the gods disapprove of, is unholy.” (Euthyphro 9e). Socrates then asks Euthyphro the following:

“Is the holy approved by the gods because it’s holy, or is it holy because it’s approved?” (Euthyphro 10a). (p. 20)

What a great question! In other words, does morality exist independently of God, or is morality whatever God says it is?

Of course, you can come up with your own conclusions and answers to that question. But it’s definitely a good one. In the end, Euthyphro couldn’t provide a satisfactory answer to Socrates.

The second dialogue is Apology, and it takes place during Socrates’ trial. Socrates was charged with “corrupting the minds of the young, and of believing in supernatural things of his own invention instead of the gods recognized by the State.” (Apology 23c). (p. 48)

Socrates argues that he is not receiving payment for teaching, so basically, the people listening to him, young and old, are doing so voluntarily. With respect to not recognizing the gods, Socrates is just challenging the intellectual laziness of the citizens by challenging their beliefs.

This dialogue was excellent and very stimulating. For example, when asked if Socrates feels hesitation about pursuing an activity (philosophy) that could bring him the death penalty, Socrates answered:

“You are mistaken, my friend, if you think that a man who is worth anything ought to spend his time weighing up the prospects of life and death. He has only one thing to consider in performing any action; that is, whether he is acting justly or unjustly, like a good man or a bad one… Where a man has once taken up his stand… there I believe he is bound to remain and face the danger, taking no account of death or anything else before dishonor.” (Apology 28b-d). (p. 54)

Powerful statement, and a lot to think about.

Here are some other powerful quotes from this dialogue:

“The true champion of justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone.” (Apology 32a). (pp. 58-59)

To me, this means taking action at the community and grassroots level because politics are corrupt and will let you down.

“The attention I paid to death was zero… but that I gave all my attention to avoiding doing anything unjust or unholy.” (Apology 32d). (p. 59)

“You too, gentlemen of the jury, must look forward to death with confidence, and fix your minds on this one belief, which is certain: that nothing can harm a good man either in life or after death, and his fortunes are not a matter of indifference to the gods.” (Apology 41d). (p. 70)

The third dialogue is Crito, and it is set in prison. Socrates’ friends formulated an escape plan, but he refused to escape. Here, Socrates explains that after benefiting from the laws of Athens, deciding to stay instead of leaving, and raising his family, he is under a personal agreement of sorts. After explaining all these reasons to Crito, he gives the following response on what others would say:

“You had seventy years in which you could have left the country, if you were not satisfied with us or felt that the agreements were unjust. You did not choose Sparta or Crete—your favorite models of good government—or any other Greek or foreign state…” (Crito 52d – 53a). (p. 93)

Basically, he enjoyed the benefits and security provided by Athenian laws his entire life. He agreed to obey their judicial decisions even when they were unjust to him personally, so he is not going to leave now, even after receiving a death penalty. This shows his character and one of the reasons why the Stoics considered him a sage.

The last dialogue is Phaedo, and it covers his execution. Some heavy and important subjects are discussed in this dialogue.

Regarding suicide:

“Tell me then, Socrates, what are the grounds for saying that suicide is not legitimate?… we must not put an end to ourselves until God sends some necessary circumstance like the one which we are facing now… God is our keeper and we are his possessions.” (Phaedo 61e-62d). (pp. 121-122)

Socrates opposes suicide as a personal choice, I guess to escape despair or other difficult situations, but he accepted drinking the hemlock because he was submitting to an external action mandated by the state as part of his death penalty. This is another one of those subjects that each person needs to come to their own conclusions about. It’s a difficult subject and I always recommend that people get the necessary help and support rather than resorting to this final act.

Socrates also discusses what happens to the soul after death. He insists that true philosophy is a preparation for death, freeing the soul from physical distractions.

Here are some highlights from this dialogue:

“All wars are undertaken for the acquisition of wealth; and the reason why we have to acquire wealth is the body, because we are slaves in its service… We are in fact convinced that if we are ever to have pure knowledge of anything, we must get rid of the body and contemplate things in isolation with the soul in isolation… It seems that as long as we are alive, we shall keep as close as possible to knowledge if we avoid as much as we can all contact and association with the body… instead of allowing ourselves to become infected with its nature, purify ourselves from it until God himself gives us deliverance.” (Phaedo 66d-67a). (pp. 127-128)

The body here represents physical desires and greed. Socrates is saying that we need to free our minds from these desires, pleasures, and greed, and he sees philosophy, with its focus on virtue, as the ultimate way to reach the end of our lives in peace.

“True philosophers exhibit self-control and courage… a philosopher’s soul will take the view which I have described. It will not first expect to be set free by philosophy, and then allow pleasure and pain to reduce it once more to bondage… by following Reason and abiding always in her company, and by contemplating the true and divine and unambiguous, and drawing inspiration from it; because such a soul believes that this is the right way to live while life endures.” (Phaedo 83e-84b). (p. 153)

The dialogue ends with Socrates drinking the poison as the court directed, and then we read the following:

“This, Echecrates, was the end of our comrade, who was, we may fairly say, of all those whom we knew in our time the bravest and also the wisest and the most just.” (Phaedo 118a). (p. 199)

To me, this was an incredible read. I learned a lot as I continue my learning journey. As in reading the Stoics, virtue continues to be a focus, and while reading this book and what Socrates said about virtue, I decided to read four books, each focusing on courage, justice, prudence, and wisdom. I’m looking forward to learning what philosophers have to say about those four virtues.

If you are interested in learning what Socrates thought about living and dying gracefully, then I recommend that you read this book. It goes into much more detail than what I highlighted here. I’m sure others have better recommendations, and all are welcome, but in my opinion, this is the book to read.

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1. Noll, Mark A. The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. (p. 3). Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1994. ↩︎

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