Wilson 1 Taylor Wilson Professor P.

Barry PHIL 123 1 September 2013 The Soundness of an Argument The Apology written by Plato, one of Socrates most valued students, is Socrates defense speech against the accusations that have been made against him. During the speech, Socrates argues that death is a blessing that is not to be feared (Plato 20). Since the premises that Socrates presents are his own opinions, or personal thoughts, on the subject they may not necessarily be true. Socrates proposes two opinions on what death is like. From Socrates point of view, one of two things can happen to him after death. Either he slips into a dreamless sleep, or his soul is taken to Hades (19-20). His first premise that will be discussed is death is like a dreamless sleep (Plato 19). Socrates believes that there is a possibility that the afterlife is like a dreamless sleep. Since an individual becomes unconscious upon dying and loses control of their physical body, death is indeed like sleep. The definition of sleep, according to Random House Websters College Dictionary, is to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; to cease being awake (Steinmetz 1214). This definition means that the sleeping individual has no control of their physical body, but they can have partial consciousness, or none at all. Also, in order to dream the brain has to be able to function, since dreams rely on brain activity to form. In 2004, an article, What Dreams Are Made Of, discussed how the brain and dreams are linked together. Researchers came up

Wilson 2 with the conclusion that dreams are formed by nerve signals... these signals, the researchers said, activate the images that we call dreams (Kantrowitz). When someone dies they fall into a deep dreamless sleep, because their brain and physical body are no longer able to function. This means that Socrates premise about death being like a dreamless sleep is true. The second premise that will be analyzed is death relocates the soul to Hades. Socrates proposes the idea that after death the soul leaves the body, and is relocated to Hades to be with the rest of the dead souls. Socrates then goes on to state that this would be an advantage to him. Once his soul arrives in Hades he can have conversations with the other souls that have been sent there (Plato 20). Unlike the first premise, this premise is false. The existence of Hades is unknown and who is to say that all the dead souls go there? Every soul may have its own designated place that it is sent to after death in order to reflect on the life that it had lived. Many religions believe in different afterlife destinations and it is not known for sure if any of the areas are true locations. Today, with modern science, there is no way of knowing where all the dead souls travel to after they have departed from the body, if they depart from it at all, making this premise false. After analyzing two of the main premises given by Socrates, it has been determined that Socrates argument is not sound. His argument is a valid argument that has both truth and fallacy tied to it, making the argument not sound. Proven by definition and science, death is indeed like a dreamless sleep, but it is still undetermined what happens to ones soul after death. Socrates proposes that the soul relocates itself to Hades after death, but this may not be true, and until it is proven to be true, it is false. Therefore, Socrates argument is valid, but not sound.

Wilson 3 Work Cited Kantrowitz, Barbra, and Karen Springen. "What Dreams Are Made Of." Newsweek. N.p., 9 Aug. 2004. Web. 01 Sept. 2013. Plato. "The Apology." Reason and Responsibility; Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy. By Joel Feinberg and Russ Shafer-Landau. 15th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. 8-20. Print. Steinmetz, Sol, ed. "Sleep." Def. 1. Random House Webster's College Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1997. Print.