He eventually relates the contraries to life and death and asserts the living comes from the dead, and the dead from the living. Therefore, Socrates has offered proof that "it is necessary for the souls of the dead to be somewhere, whence they come to be again (72A). Socrates affirms when the body dies the soul carries on because death is contrary to life and offers further proof in the argument from recollection.
The argument from recollection takes place because Simmias is not persuaded by the argument of contraries. The point Socrates attempts to defend the statement that the human soul grasps all knowledge from a human previous life. His most convincing defense for this argument deals with the senses. Socrates declares, "that it is from the senses that we must get the notion that all the objects in these sensations both strive after the Equal that is and fall short" (75B). He make a case that since humans have the ability to control these senses from the moment of birth and are never taught how to use one's senses, then its necessary that we attained such knowledge before we were born. Furthermore, Socrates believes that having grasped knowledge before we were born, we lost it utterly when we were born, but later by use of our senses we grasp again the various knowledges we once had before (75E). Therefore, learning would simply be the grasping again of past knowledge. Socra!.
tes simply states in his argument from recollection that the soul already knows all from its prior pure state and simple recollects during the process of learning when in the chains of the human body.
Socrates tells his students to put together the two arguments and one will understand that the soul does indeed move on to live forever "There" or return to another earthly state. However, Cebes is not convinced. Therefore, Socrates must make an argument convincing all his students so they will lose their emotional attachment to him, as well as their fear of death.