What is Socrates’ thought regarding death and how does this position reflect Plato’s metaphysical dualism? What does Aristotle say of death in relation to the “happy man”?

As one of the most famous philosophers of all time, Socrates had a particular attitude to death, peculiar to the mythological perception of the world. In particular, the ancient Greeks argued that death is a fitting end to physical life for a good man, in which the soul as a metaphysical state is separated from the body.

According to Socrates, this is not a literal end and should not be accompanied by fear but instead should be welcomed and proud. In this interpretation of death, there is an apparent emphasis on the dualism of being, in which the system “soul and body” ceases to be contiguous after the death of a man. This was also the point made by Plato when he referred to the metaphysical world (soul) as permanent and unchanging in comparison with the world of the body, volatile and unstable.

Furthermore, according to Aristotle, there is hostility between body and soul, which is inherent to the principles of dualism, but in life, there is a balance between them. To die, according to Aristotle, means to gain supreme happiness and to return to one’s true home, and so dead in the theoretical conception of man is close in meaning to the way Socrates viewed it.

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Academic.Tips. 2022. "What is Socrates’ thought regarding death and how does this position reflect Plato’s metaphysical dualism? What does Aristotle say of death in relation to the “happy man”?" November 27, 2022. https://academic.tips/question/what-is-socrates-thought-regarding-death-and-how-does-this-position-reflect-platos-metaphysical-dualism-what-does-aristotle-say-of-death-in-relation-to-the-happy-man/.

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Academic.Tips. "What is Socrates’ thought regarding death and how does this position reflect Plato’s metaphysical dualism? What does Aristotle say of death in relation to the “happy man”?" November 27, 2022. https://academic.tips/question/what-is-socrates-thought-regarding-death-and-how-does-this-position-reflect-platos-metaphysical-dualism-what-does-aristotle-say-of-death-in-relation-to-the-happy-man/.

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