The Phaedo is the last of five dialogues dealing with the last days of Socrates. It depicts the last day in Socrates’ life and contains his death scene.

It is a philosophically and poetically rich dialogue that contains the first discussion on Plato’s Theory of Forms, a strong argument for the philosophic life, and three arguments for the immortality of the soul.

The dialogue itself is told from the perspective of Phaedo, a slave boy freed and raised by Socrates. Phaedo relates how he felt no pity for his friend, Socrates, because of the way he faced death: unafraid of the unknown and happy with his fate.

Most people are exposed to, at least, one of the major religions. All religions base their belief, not only on knowing that they know, but also on believing what they know to be true.

One of the basic assumptions of all religions is the existence of a soul or atma, an immortal substance that outlives our mortal bodies.

In the Phaedo, Plato attempts to bring the metaphysics of the soul within a rational framework to prove its immortality.

It is Plato and concurrently Socrates’ belief that death is but beginning of the separate existence of the soul and body.

However, if a soul were to exist, what sort of carrier or casing would it be present in? If there is a soul, does it necessarily have to incorporate the self? Thirdly, there is absolutely no evidence to justify such a belief.