Human beings are possessions of the gods, who act as our guardians; therefore, like a servant or domesticated animal that may not rightly kill itself without the master’s will, a person ought not to commit suicide but should wait until God ‘summons’ him.
Key Arguments
- Socrates refers to a "doctrine whispered in secret that man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door and run away," indicating a traditional religious or mystical view that anticipates his argument.
- He declares his belief that "the gods are our guardians, and that we are a possession of theirs," and gets Cebes to agree.
- He supports the analogy by asking how Cebes would feel if one of his own possessions, "an ox or an ass," killed itself without any indication that its owner wished it to die, and Cebes concedes he would be angry and punish it.
- From this, Socrates concludes that "there may be reason in saying that a man should wait, and not take his own life until God summons him," explicitly linking the property-guardian relation to the prohibition of suicide.
- This argument grounds the unlawfulness of suicide in divine ownership and governance of human life, rather than in a blanket claim that death is always evil.
Source Quotes
I admit the appearance of inconsistency in what I am saying; but there may not be any real inconsistency after all. There is a doctrine whispered in secret that man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door and run away; this is a great mystery which I do not quite understand. Yet I too believe that the gods are our guardians, and that we are a possession of theirs.
There is a doctrine whispered in secret that man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door and run away; this is a great mystery which I do not quite understand. Yet I too believe that the gods are our guardians, and that we are a possession of theirs. Do you not agree? Yes, I quite agree, said Cebes.
Yes, I quite agree, said Cebes. And if one of your own possessions, an ox or an ass, for example, took the liberty of putting himself out of the way when you had given no intimation of your wish that he should die, would you not be angry with him, and would you not punish him if you could? Certainly, replied Cebes.
Certainly, replied Cebes. Then, if we look at the matter thus, there may be reason in saying that a man should wait, and not take his own life until God summons him, as he is now summoning me. Yes, Socrates, said Cebes, there seems to be truth in what you say.
Key Concepts
- There is a doctrine whispered in secret that man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door and run away; this is a great mystery which I do not quite understand.
- Yet I too believe that the gods are our guardians, and that we are a possession of theirs. Do you not agree?
- And if one of your own possessions, an ox or an ass, for example, took the liberty of putting himself out of the way when you had given no intimation of your wish that he should die, would you not be angry with him, and would you not punish him if you could?
- Then, if we look at the matter thus, there may be reason in saying that a man should wait, and not take his own life until God summons him, as he is now summoning me.
Context
In response to Cebes’ query about why suicide is unlawful even when death could be good, Socrates articulates a religious-metaphysical justification based on divine guardianship and ownership of human beings.