Summing up the preceding argument, and applying it to his own case, Socrates reaffirms his confidence in face of death: he is not so foolish as to complain at the approach of that for which his whole life has been a preparation. Many have died by their own hand that they might rejoin their loved ones who have passed away: will not the lover of wisdom be equally ready to pass to another world, that he may behold and enjoy that wisdom which he cannot fully attain in this world?

Socrates proceeds to contrast the philosopher with the ‘lover of the body’, and to show that the moral virtues as practised by the latter are spurious and self-contradictory. All true virtue involves intelligence (ϕρόνησις), which is declared to be a purge (καθαρμός) to rid the soul of the body's taint.

‘Well then, my friend’, said Socrates, ‘if that is true, I may well hope that when I have reached the place whither I am bound I shall attain in full measure, there at last, that for which I have spent the effort of a lifetime; wherefore it is with good hope that I set out upon the journey now appointed for me, as may any man who deems that his mind is made ready and purified.’