body?... And this separation and release of the soul from the body is termed death.... And the
true philosophers, and they only, are ever seeking to release the soul.
There is one true coin for which all things ought to be exchanged, and that is wisdom.
The founders of the mysteries would appear to have had a real meaning, and were not talking
nonsense when they intimated in a figure long ago that he who passes unsanctified and uninitiated
into the world below will lie in a slough, but that he who arrives there after initiation and
purification will dwell with the gods. For many, as they say in the mysteries, are the thyrsus-
bearers, but few are the mystics, meaning, as I interpret the words, the true philosophers.
All this language is mystical, and is derived from the mysteries. "Purity" is an Orphic conception,
having primarily a ritual meaning, but for Plato it means freedom from slavery to the body and its
needs. It is interesting to find him saying that wars are caused by love of money, and that money is
only needed for the service of the body. The first half of this opinion is the same as that held by
Marx, but the second belongs to a very different outlook. Plato thinks that a man could live on
very little money if his wants were reduced to a minimum, and this no doubt is true. But he also
thinks that a philosopher should be exempt from manual labour; he must therefore live on wealth
created by others. In a very poor State there are likely to be no philosophers. It was the
imperialism of Athens in the age of Pericles that made it possible for Athenians to study
philosophy. Speaking broadly, intellectual goods are just as expensive as more material
commodities, and just as little independent of economic conditions. Science requires libraries,
laboratories, telescopes, microscopes, and so on, and men of science have to be supported by the
labour of others. But to the mystic all this is foolishness. A holy man in India or Tibet needs no
apparatus, wears only a loin cloth, eats only rice, and is supported by very meagre charity because
he is thought wise. This is the logical development of Plato's point of view.
To return to the Phaedo: Cebes expresses doubt as to the survival of the soul after death, and
urges Socrates to offer arguments. This he proceeds to do, but it must be said that the arguments
are very poor.