66b - 72e Summary and Analysis

Socrates believes that something in existence will lead us away from the confusion of the senses. However, as long as the body and soul are fused, we cannot attain our ultimate desire, the truth. The body keeps men busy and distracted from contemplation. No thought comes from the body and only the body causes war, discord, and desire for wealth, for example. The body enslaves.

If we want pure knowledge, we have to escape the body and see things in themselves with the soul along. So when we die, we might get what we truly want: wisdom which cannot be achieved through the knowledge of the body. Either we can never have knowledge or we can only do so after death. The soul is by itself without the body and so when we dissociate we will be...