Phaedo

Plato`s Phaedo is one of the great dialogues and depicts the death of Socrates. It is his seventh and last dialogue to detail the philosopher`s final days, following Theaetetus, Euthyphro, Sophist, Statesman, Apology, and Crito. In the Phaedo, Socrates discusses the nature of the afterlife and is told from the perspective of one of Socrates` students, Phaedo of Elis. Having been present at Socrates` death bed, Phaedo relates the dialogue from that day to Echecrates, a Pythagorean philosopher. By engaging in dialectic with a group of Socrates` friends, including the Thebans Cebes and Simmias, Socrates explores various arguments for the soul`s immortality in order to show that there is an afterlife in which the soul will dwell following death.