THE PRAYER OF SOCRATES, PHILOSOPHIC VIRTUE, AND HUMAN FULFILMENT

Abstract

The prayer of Socrates in Phaedrus is an extra-rational response to the tragic vision of life in which man is exposed to a continuous risk in such a way that happiness depends on fortune and other forces of nature. In what does the ultimate good lie; is it in the satisfaction of the needs of the body, or by addressing the aspirations of the soul, and by what means is this desired good achievable? The intentions of the prayer reveal the Socratic insights on philosophy as a pious activity, a transformative experience. The prayer is addressed to the gods, specifically to Pan, a god associated with wild nature, fertility, and the rustic, wilder sides of life. Pan represents the energetic force of nature, and is believed to instil irrational fear (panic) in herds or men. The activities of Pan and the other gods in nature are of mixed nature; they instil in man a feeling he does not understand (Panic, disquietude). Insofar as physis (sensible) mediates reality, philosophy remains incomplete if it excludes, instead of including and transcending it. This essay, based on phenomenological and analytical methods, highlights the Socratic notion of philosophy as a rational response to the tragic vision of life; a response that does not exclude a communion with the divine (extra-rational principle). Philosophy is presented as a virtuous activity, viz, a virtue required for a harmonious rapport between the faculties of the body and powers of the soul (mind), the two dimensions or principles of the being of man.