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Socrates asserts that a true philosopher ought to welcome death, though suicide is not legitimate. Socrates backs up this claim by explaining that we are the possessions of the gods, and so have no right to harm ourselves, thus, in the face of death one will find even better gods and friends in the afterlife. According to Socrates, true philosophers spend their entire lives preparing for death and dying, so it would be uniquely odd if they were to be sad when the moment of death finally arrived.
Death, Socrates explains, is the separation of the soul from the body. Our quest for truth then will be much aided by death if at that point our soul is completely separated from the contamination of the body. Throughout their lives, Philosophers, in their search for truth, have attained a state as close to death as possible, trying to distance the soul as much as they can from the needs of the body. Therefore, death should only be seen as a help to philosophers, giving them even greater separation between body and soul. Socrates also points out that only a philosopher who does not fear death can truly be said to possess courage and self-control.
