Reading through the translation of Plato’s Phaedon by David Gallop, when dealing with the subject of death, it is apparent that Socrates has given it much thought as he is essentially on its doorstep. Why is this retelling by Phaedo important to us as physicists though? I held this question in my mind as I read.
The relevance that I find in it has to do with the logic and critical thinking that was applied to the process. Should Socrates be upset that his death is nigh? In his mind, he has worked it out that he should not. He has lived his life as that of a philosopher, and as such, he feels that he should accept his fate with open arms. It is this kind of logic and progression of thought that is important in my opinion.
Pulling from DiSessa and the concept of p-prims, I feel that the same concept can be applied to the parts of the Phaedon when examining the thought processes. Socrates in the story has advanced his thoughts starting at what he probably considered a core element to his argument: he was a philosopher. What does that mean? If we are to consider that to be a primitive that cannot be boiled down any further - indeed it is a key component that can simply be explained but not broken up without destroying some of the important elements to what make it what it is – it can be seen how his argument grows in complexity to his final conclusion.
It is this thought process that is ultimately important and illuminating, and it is also something that needs to be properly trained to make the correct connections and advancements from the primitive. Socrates is a philosopher, and that means that he has chosen to live his life in a certain way. That means that he has made choices differently from other people as a result. That has further shaped his life and led him down a path that others living their own life would not be following unless they were also a philosopher with the same understanding as Socrates.
He uses this same kind of thought process to assuage any fears that his followers might have concerning his impending death because through his logic, he has proven that his soul will survive his death, reside in Hades, and be reborn anew into the world at a later time because that is just how things are.
I do not think that we can say on way or the other the validity of such a claim, but the logic is sound from how Socrates has presented it. This could be held up by how the p-prim process works as well. As understanding advances in an area, the primitive becomes more complex and is no longer just a primitive. It is the catalyst that further understanding requires.
Plato, Phaedon, translated by David Gallop, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993
