Preserving The Soul In Plato's Apology

In Five Dialogues by Plato I will focus primarily on the Apology. During the Apology Socrates is on trial for corrupting the youth. According to Meletus,his acusser, Socrates is teaching the youth about new gods while rejecting the old gods. According to Socrates he explains that he does not teach rather speak to all those willing to listen to him that the most important thing they can do is keep the best possible state of one’s soul. To best ones soul one must act ethical. Man has knowledge of what is good and thus should do well and act accordingly to ensure a good life in the next. Arguably there is no definitive answer on what happens after death, the soul could be nothing, simply a made up fragment from our mind to sustain us until death. But I agree with Socrates, the soul is far more important than any other psychical matter. The soul is beyond our superficial layer, it represents our growth, and the soul is our true self because our body is only temporary. What Socrates persuades to everyone willing to listen to is that preserving the soul, describes that the soul is greater than our psychical selves. One can die but …show more content…
Taking care of the soul means behaving ethically. One can achieve this through personal growth, learning. We must take care of the soul while we are still alive. That is the only time we have to take care of it, because after death the soul is no longer attached to our psychical bodies. The soul is what makes the body alive according to Socrates. Personal growth is important toward having the best soul. This is because we are constantly learning to behave ethically. People know what is ethical, and we constantly teach one another the proper and improper. In 46e Crito explains that the opinions of reasonable people are far more influential and helpful for a person’s soul. The views of the majority are not always right. Constantly learning and behaving ethically is leaning towards