In Laches and the Phaedo, courage and virtue are discussed in depth. Furthermore, arguments are given in the Phaedo in support of the possibility of the existence of immorality of the soul. In Laches, Socrates and two generals, Nicias and Laches, struggle over how exactly to define courage. After discussing and analyzing two definitions of courage, Nicias proposes a third definition of courage. However, this definition of courage that he proposed is actually the definition of virtue. When the dialogue comes to an end, no definition of courage has been reached. Virtue is very difficult to define, as evidenced by the difficulty Socrates, Nicias, and Laches have in trying to define both courage and virtue. In Socrates' discussions with Nicias, it seems to indicate that Nicias has stumbled upon a possible definition of virtue. Socrates says regarding what Nicias thought was that: "Courage is the knowledge not only of those who fear and those who hope, but according to you [Nicias], it would be the knowledge of practically all good and evil combined" (Laches and Charmides, 199D). However, after Nicias agrees that this is not the definition of courage that Socrates and Nicias are looking for, Socrates asks if "[A] man with this kind of knowledge seems to depart from virtue in any respect" (Laches and Charmides, 199D) ? The simple answer to this question is no. The definition suggested by Socrates for the definition of courage became the definition of virtue. “Then what you speak of now, Nicias, would seem not to be a part of virtue but rather the whole virtue” (Laches and Charmides, 199E). To summarize, for a person to be virtuous, he or she must have knowledge of all good and evil... middle of the paper... I agree with almost everything he said on the subject in Laches. That said, I don't think Socrates' definition of courage and virtue is sufficient to be complete. As for the “affinity theme” for the preservation of the soul after death, I liked the topic and think it is very believable and even possible. However, his entire argument rests on the reader's acceptance of the theory of Forms. Overall, I have to say that Socrates has amazing insights into very difficult metaphysical problems and that he gave me a lot to think about. Works Cited Plato. Laches and Charmides. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1992. Book.Plato. Phaedo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1977. Book. "The Republic". Plato. Network. March 19, 2009. http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.3.ii.html.