Socrates’ Diagnosis of Evil in the Soul
Plato’s Gorgias
follows Socrates on his quest to further define virtue, through a
question-and-answer approach with several other characters throughout the
text—Callicles, Chaerephon, Gorgias, and Polus. Socrates takes these characters
on a verbal journey of exploration into the aspects of evil souls and the shame
of wrongdoing. Gorgias deals with
several complex topics and comparisons; however, this figurative reading focuses
in on one specific figure in Gorgias:
the metaphor of evil as a disease.
While Plato employs the figure of disease multiple
times throughout Gorgias, one of his
most notable uses comes in the example of the pilot of ships. In an attempt to
prove exactly how disagreeable it is to have an evil soul, Socrates tells Callicles
of the art of the pilot who saves people from drowning. But, Socrates points
out that the pilot cannot distinguish who he has helped in not letting his
passengers drown. According to Socrates, “a man who is afflicted by great and
incurable diseases is only to be pitied for having escaped, and is in no way
benefited…much less he who has great and incurable diseases, not of the body,
but of the soul, which is the more valuable part of him.” In Socrates’ metaphor, he conveys his strong
opinions regarding injustice of the soul. His explanation takes the form of
comparing the pity that is felt for a suffering man who survives when he had
the potential to drown and a man whose soul is so diseased with evil that it
would have been a much better option for him to drown instead of allowing the
pilot to save him. Socrates furthers this idea by stating, “…neither is life
worth having nor of any profit to the bad man…” Essentially, there is no reason
for someone with a diseased, or evil, soul to experience life.
In relation to the previous example, Socrates
compares men who commit wrongdoings and run from justice to men who have
diseases but refuse to see a doctor, saying that these men who commit
wrongdoings “are blind to the advantage” that comes from seeking justice, “not
knowing how far more miserable a companion a diseased soul is than a diseased
body; a soul, I say, which is corrupt and unrighteous and unholy.” Once again,
Socrates uses the figure of the diseased soul to illustrate how abysmal it is
to commit injustice and therefore possess a diseased soul. Socrates claims that
it is better to keep the company of people with biological diseases rather than
people who are physically healthy but metaphorically diseased with evil. This correlates
with Socrates’ overarching topic of virtue in that people who are diseased with
evil can seek justice and negate their internal evils; however, the truly evil
people do not seek justice and, instead, choose to live with their evil souls because
they don’t know how superior their lives would be if they cured themselves of
their metaphorical diseases.
Another significant use of the disease in Gorgias occurs after Socrates explains
to Polus that committing an injustice is more shameful than being the victim of
an injustice someone else committed. Socrates states that after committing a
wrong, a man “will run to the judge, as he would to the physician, in order
that the disease of injustice may not be rendered chronic and become the
incurable cancer of the soul.” What is important to note from this quote is
that injustice is considered a disease that can become chronic and thought of
as the “cancer of the soul.” Socrates wants Polus to understand that if an
injustice is not resolved and the person committing the injustice is not
punished, the consequences are severe. Biological diseases take over and wreak
havoc on the body if not cared for, and we can imagine that Socrates’ symbolic
disease must do the same for the soul, therefore making the owner of the soul an
ethically diseased individual.
Through his investigation on the question of virtue
in people, Socrates outlines what makes people virtuous or not. In the case of
people who are not virtuous, Socrates delves into the idea of their souls being
diseased with evil and injustice. Socrates’ exploration demonstrates the
undesirability of having a diseased soul and how one can reverse the signs
before it becomes a chronic disease. Within his use of metaphor, Socrates gives
readers an alternate way to depict unjust people as those who suffer from
diseases that are not biological but rather ethical.
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