In doing this, you may break away from the physical realm and join the gods in Hades. In death, Socrates was very confident that he had achieved this and in turn, was going to join the gods when he drank the poison that ended his life.
If a person has lived a life delving in the physical pleasures, he will be bonded to them in death as well. Socrates says that when these people die their souls inhabit the graveyards until their desires for the physical pleasures become so strong that they are drawn back to that world and are given another physical form. This form is dependent on what their former life involved. A deceitful person would be cast among wolves and hawks while those who were lazy may become drunks and beggars. In this theory, Socrates still maintains his strong view that the soul is immortal. .
The soul, says Socrates, rules over the body. However, the body may deceive the soul through the senses. The soul may use these senses while dealing with those things that are physical, but it should not always believe them. If the soul relies too heavily on the senses, then it may start to value the physical realm more than the knowledge that comes from the soul. Socrates implies that the body is separate from the soul in that it is a vessel that the body can use to navigate the physical environment. However, men need to service this body in order to remain here on Earth and because of this the body may warp the needs of the soul to be that of the body's. This is evident in lust, and other desires that keep us from acquiring the true knowledge that Socrates longs for. Also, if this is true, true knowledge can never be gained because the physical realm has none of it. .
Reading the Phaedo, I found it hard not to formulate a cynical opinion of his views and his method of argument. Although I do believe in the immortality of the soul, I do not agree with his conclusions on why we should believe this to be so.
