who have already made this journey to the afterlife:
Although I was witnessing the death of one who was my friend, I had no feeling of pity, for the man appeared happy both in manner and words as he died nobly and without fear. . .
This afterlife is actually superior to this world because the gods are wise and good and the men who have joined the gods have already proven themselves and are thus, as a group, better than the men in the world of the living. Socrates sees death as an opportunity for a new learning experience, much as he sees every aspect of life as something to be savored and examined for its essential nature and meaning. When Socrates offers proofs for immortality, he does so on the basis of the application of reason alone, beginning with certain propositions and following them through logically to a conclusion. As will be seen, this approach is bound with Socrates's view that he has an understanding of what he does not know and also with the Platonic conception of the Forms.
The question of the immortality of the soul is ti
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