Analysis Of Dostoyevsky's The Phaedo

1.
Plato’s “The Phaedo” is a book that is centered around the notion of death. The book tells the story of the final day of the philosopher Socrates , so naturally the conversation quickly turns to an analysis of the philosopher’s attitude towards death. Socrates says “he, or any man who has the spirit of philosophy, will be willing to die, but he will not take his own life, for that is held to be unlawful,” and it is here that the discussion begins. Cebes challenges Socrates statement, asking “why do you say that a man ought not to take his own life, but that the philosopher will be ready to follow the dying.” Socrates initially claims that the Gods would be angry if one of their possessions took their own lives without the God’s permission. …show more content…
The notion of free will is defined as the ability to act at one’s own discretion, and he finds the laws of nature to be contradictory to this definition. An example of this that he uses repeatedly throughout the text is that “two times two equals four” . The fact that the laws of nature dictate that two times two always equals four frustrates the Underground Man greatly. No matter how much he wishes that two times two would equal five it never does, and thus he sees the equation two times two equals four as standing in the way of his free will. Of course the Underground Man isn’t exclusively talking about two times two equals four or the laws of mathematics; he is instead talking about all of the rules of reason, rationale and logic. Rules such as if you’re thirsty, you’ll drink, if you have a toothache, you’ll go to the dentist, if a cat is happy, it’ll purr. He claims that because all of these things are things that will happen regardless of us and our desires, they illustrate how these laws of reason restrict and limit our free will. This is a belief that is extremely contrary to that of the rational thinkers of his time period, who thought that the laws of reason would solve every problem and create a perfect utopian society. By saying that “two times two equals four is no longer life, gentleman, but the beginning of death,” …show more content…
It tells the story of Meursault who tries to live as honestly as he can instead of following social norms. He does whatever he wants and befriends whoever he likes. He refuses to pretend to feel things he does not feel, and thus he doesn’t make himself cry at his mother’s funeral, or mourn her for longer than he feels is necessary. At the end of the story, Meursault is found guilty of murdering an Arab on the beach. While of course Meursault is guilty of the crime, he seems to be condemned more for not following the rules of society than for the crime