The Relation among Philosophy, Catharsis, and Death in Plato’s View

There tend to be key concepts in the thought of any philosopher which represents their intellectual system and serves as a ground for the existence and understanding of other concepts and thoughts of his. The concept of death is such a key concept in Plato’s thought. In his philosophy, there is a profound relation among the concepts of philosophy, catharsis, and death. It seems that understanding them and explaining the relation among them might pave the path for a better understanding of his views. By adopting a descriptive-analytic method, we aim to show the connection among “philosophy,” “catharsis,” and “philosopher’s death.” The stages of this research are in accordance with Plato’s writings so as to open a door to an understanding of many concepts in his philosophy. We conclude that in his view, philosophy, the philosopher’s death, and catharsis are all grounded in the same foundation. It is true that philosophy is a particular kind of discourse between two persons, death is the separation of the soul from the body, and catharsis is the purification of the soul from bodily attachments, but all these three cases involve a common concept of the soul’s separation from flowing things and its turning toward the real and eternal being. Thus, not only do they have the same function in terms of their instances and none of them is possible without the other, there is also an implicit correspondence in their concepts as well.