Socrates and the belief in the immortality of the soul

Orpheus holding a harp plays before the gods of the Underworld, Hades and Persephone. By Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625). Johnny Van Haeften Gallery, London

Orphism and Pythagoreanism share a set of beliefs whose cornerstone is the existence of an immortal soul subject to the long and terrible process of transmigration, from which it can only free itself through certain purificatory practices. The method of Socrates is based on the belief of an immortal soul like the mystical rites (that is to say linked to the mystery cults).

For the philosopher, the moral ideal consists of having a way of life centered on self-knowledge and the care of the soul, instead of focusing on material goods. Then, natural research should not have as its objective the study of the material structure of the universe, but the knowledge of the divine intelligence, of which the human soul is an emanation. Finally, for Socrates, dialogue is the only valid means of seeking knowledge, in order to detect the false beliefs that nestle in us and prevent us from achieving knowledge of ourselves. To do this, dialogue is the main form of purification.

Death is good

In his Apology for Socrates , Plato evokes the ideas of his teacher:“Here are other reasons to firmly hope that death is good. Of two things, one:either he who is dead is reduced to nothingness and no longer has any consciousness of anything, or else, according to what is said, death is a change, a transmigration of the soul. from where we are to another place. If death is the extinction of all feeling and resembles one of those sleeps where one sees nothing, even in a dream, it is a marvelous gain to die. […] On the other hand, if death is like a passage from here below to another place, and if it is true, as they say, that all the dead are gathered there, can one, judges, imagine a greater good? »