The book of Phaedo takes place in the day of Socrates execution in his prison cell where he spends the last hours of his life discussing philosophy in company of some of his closest friends and some other followers. Socrates begin writing poetry while in jail believing that the gods ask of him to write, and just in case the gods wanted this from him instead of philosophy. Next, one of Socrates friend asked him about his view on suicide. Socrates explained to them it was wrong for one to take its own life, since your life belongs to the gods for it not yours to take. Furthermore, Socrates could not kill himself on his own merit, but when the law order him to drink the poison he must obey the law; hence, the gods order him to obey the law. …show more content…
Socrates discusses that bodily needs for nurture get in the way of philosophy, he mentioned that the philosopher more than other man frees the soul from association with the body as much as possible. (Plato Pg. 56, 64e.) He explains that freedom and separation of the soul from the body is death. (Plato Pg. 58, 67d) He then moves to examine opposites to conclude the soul from the dead come back to life. He said that those that have an opposite must come to be from their opposite and from nowhere else. He explains when something comes to be larger it must necessarily become larger from having been smaller. (Plato Phaeto; pg. 61, …show more content…
He states that children at an early age are capable of recognizing things as beautiful. Furthermore, Socrates mentions that you wouldn’t be able to recognize beauty unless there is a vague idea inside already. He then moves to explain things that are logical and real, yet you wouldn’t have been able to comprehend these things unless you knew they weren’t real. He mentioned that when you go from being small to being big you lose smallness and gain bigness. Just like 2+2=4 is real because of the twoness, just like a square having four side and a triangle having 3 angles you would not be able to recognize these things unless there is a vague idea of them inside already. These ideas are facts determine by deep realities in the universe. We know of these realities before we know what they are. Evidence that the soul exists before
Socrates first argument is on the Theory of Opposites in which he discusses the nature of opposite things and beings. Socrates makes his claim that everything that is, comes from its opposite being. “If something smaller comes to be it will come from something larger before, which became smaller” (71a). What he is trying to explain is that something that is considered to be “smaller” requires it to once have been “larger” previously, so its size decreased in time. Just as large and small, Socrates compares the matter of life and death as being opposites in which the soul is what moves on. The issue with this reasoning is that unlike moving from opposites such as small to large or large to small, where an object may increase or decrease, life to death is not a reversible process. Life can move to death but it cannot reverse and move from death to life. Life cannot come from death, and though life is contrary to death it is not the contradicting opposite, and it cannot be considered to follow the Theory of Opposites. It is practically impossible for something to be alive and dead at the same time, so the soul that transfers from life to death it must be able to exist within the body or out of it. Socrates believes that th...
In Plato’s dialogue, Phaedo, Echecrades asks Phaedo the details of Socrates’ last day alive. Phaedo first describes his own countenance as well as the rest of Socrates’ companions as “an unaccustomed mixture of pleasure and pain” because they all know that Socrates’ death is imminent, however they see that Socrates appears happy and without fear (58, e). The conversation with Socrates turns to why a philosopher should not fear death. Socrates defines death as the separation of the soul from the body (64, c). He states that the body is a constant impediment to a philosopher in their search for the truth. Socrates says that the body “fills us with wants, desires, fears, all sorts of illusions and much nonsense, so that… no thought of any kind ever comes to us from the [it].” (66, c). He claims that philosophy itself is “training for dying” and philosophers purify their souls by detaching it from the body (67, e). Socrates concludes that it would be unreasonable for a philosopher to fear death because they will obtain the truth they sought in life upon the separation of their body and soul, or death (67, c). After successfully proves the soul’s immortality, Socrates goes on to tell his companions a myth. This myth tells o the judgment of the dead and their journey through the underworld (107, d). It explains the shape of the Earth and how it has different surfaces (108, c- 113, d). It also tells of the punishment for the maimed souls and the reward for the pure souls, those of philosophers (113, c – 114, d). After concluding this myth, Socrates seems to emphasize that the exact details of the story are not important and “no sensible man would insist that these things are as I have described them” but it is important to “risk the bel...
The main theme behind the "Phaedo" is Socrates' readiness and willingness to die, because of his belief of immortality. Socrates believed that when his body ceased to exist anymore, that his soul would leave and join that of the forms, where he would be eternally. Socrates believed so strongly in this, that not only did he not fear his death, he welcomed it. He believed that only when the soul separated from the body, is a person able to be truly enlightened and gain all knowledge. This "enlightenment" has been Socrates' life long goal of discovering the truth. Even at his hour of death, Socrates showed no hesitation. However, Socrates' friends did not believe so strongly, and took some great convincing by Socrates, to allow his friends to be okay with his death. The two proofs that Socrates used to convince his friends are the "Doctrine of Opposites" and the "simple and composite theory.
He views death as a separation of the soul from the body when the body and soul are together it is life. He believed this so powerfully, that he did not only fear death but welcomed it. Socrates believed that he had to live a life full and hope for death. He had to convince his disciples Cebes and Simmias to be okay with his death since they did not believe in his beliefs. Socrates believed that men were the property of the gods and stated, “it is gods who care for us, and for the gods, we human beings are among their belongings. Don't you think so?” (Phaedo, 62b). Cebes was in an agreement with Socrates on that argument. They both believed that if a man kills himself he will be punished. Cebes suggest that when the soul leaves a body, it may dissipate, no longer existing as one unit. However, Socrates argues that in favor of this myth, souls after death will eventually return to the world in other bodies. Everything that comes to come from its opposites that is explained in the first argument. Simmias then argues that destroying a body will destroy the soul in it. Cebes declares that there is no proof that the souls are immortal and suffer no negative effects after each death and rebirth. Socrates tries to convince his friends with the Argument of Opposites and the Theory of Forms. Socrates hopes that the theory of forms will help explain causation and proof of the
Socrates’ first argument is the argument from opposites. He says the soul is eternal. It never ceases to be or becomes to be. It’s completely eternal. Everything comes to be from out of its opposite, so that for instance a tall man becomes tall only because he was short before. Similarly, death being the opposite of life, and so living things come to be out of dead things and vice versa. This implies that there is a continuous cycle of life and death, so that when we die we do not stay dead, but come back to life after a period of time. Our soul never dies, however. It is the one thing that conti...
A person’s body can change in appearance numerous times throughout his or her life, but who they are essentially does not change along with the outward appearance. He claims ownership of his body, and he uses his body, but his body is not the self, the soul is the self—the soul is in possession of the body. Socrates seems to agree to an extent with Democritus on the morality of the soul, to the extent that a soul can be good or vicious. Living well or living badly are all matters of the soul. If one wants to have a good soul then he or she should not place too much emphasis on external goods, and should focus on having areté of the soul instead. Areté consists of what we typically associate with good people; it is virtue, excellence, and being the best one can be. Socrates asserts that when one dies there are two possibilities; either you become nothing and unaware, or your soul goes on to an afterlife somewhere else. In death, when the soul separates from the temporary body, it goes into the afterlife exactly as it was in life. Meaning, if the soul has been taken care of during life then it will continue to be a healthy, happy soul in death. However, if it were neglected because the person placed too much importance on external goods during life, which causes damage, it will enter the afterlife as the same damaged soul it was in life. He seems to be saying that the people who typically only seek out the external goods are the ones with vicious souls, and that they think that they can compensate for the state of their soul by acquiring all of these external things. However, Socrates says that there is no hope for vicious souls; if a person has a vicious soul he or she has a damaged self, and there are no external goods or benefits that can compensate for
First and foremost, Socrates believed that when a person dies the body is what seems to die while the soul continues to live and exist. Although many suggested that when the body dies the soul dies with it, Socrates provides numerous arguments to prove his point otherwise. The arguments that were presented consisted of The argument of Reincarnation, The argument of Opposites, The argument of Recollection, and The argument of Forms. The argument that was most convincing for me was that of the Argument of Forms because Socrates makes his most compelling arguments here and it’s the most effective. On the other hand, the argument that I saw to be the least convincing was that of the Argument of Recollection and Reincarnation because both arguments fail to fully support the idea of the soul being immortal.
Imagine the time just after the death of Socrates. The people of Athens were filled with questions about the final judgment of this well-known, long-time citizen of Athens. Socrates was accused at the end of his life of impiety and corruption of youth. Rumors, prejudices, and questions flew about the town. Plato experienced this situation when Socrates, his teacher and friend, accepted the ruling of death from an Athenian court. In The Last Days of Socrates, Plato uses Socrates’ own voice to explain the reasons that Socrates, though innocent in Plato’s view, was convicted and why Socrates did not escape his punishment as offered by the court. The writings, “Euthyphro,” “The Apology,” “Crito,” and “Pheado” not only helped the general population of Athens and the friends and followers of Socrates understand his death, but also showed Socrates in the best possible light. They are connected by their common theme of a memoriam to Socrates and the discussion of virtues. By studying these texts, researchers can see into the culture of Athens, but most important are the discussions about relationships in the book. The relationships between the religion and state and individual and society have impacted the past and are still concerns that are with us today.
Therefore, through the soul, that has been born before being placed into a physical human body, the human has knowledge. As a result of the soul being immortal and knowing everything, Socrates ties that idea of immortality with the theory of recollection, which claims that our knowledge is inside of us because of the soul and it never learns anything new, only remembers, consequently, serving as an evidence that the soul is pre- existent. Socrates uses the knowledge of the soul to explain that there is no such thing as learning but instead there is discovery of the knowledge that one has and does, by himself, without receiving new information. However, most knowledge is forgotten at birth since we are born without knowing, for example, how to add, subtract,talk, etc. Nonetheless, the knowledge we have, has to be recollected with the help of a teacher. Socrates is able to prove this argument to a degree by using Meno’s slave, who had no prior knowledge of geometry before, as an example of how humans have the knowledge inside of them, through the soul, and they know everything but all they need are a sort of guidance to be able to “free” the knowledge they didn’t know they had inside them all this time. (Plato,
In the book Plato 's Phaedo, Socrates argues that the soul will continue to exist, and that it will go on to a better place. The argument begins on the day of Socrates execution with the question of whether it is good or bad to die. In other words, he is arguing that the soul is immortal and indestructible. This argument is contrary to Cebes and Simmias beliefs who argue that even the soul is long lasting, it is not immortal and it is destroyed when the body dies. This paper is going to focus on Socrates four arguments for the soul 's immortality. The four arguments are the Opposite argument, the theory of recollection, the affinity argument, and the argument from form of life. As the body is mortal and is subject to physical death, the soul
For instance, he suggests, when the soul leaves the body, it may be dissipated like breath or smoke so that it no longer exists as one coherent unit. Socrates ' answer begins with a consideration of the myth that the soul exists in some other world after death, and that after some time it returns to animate another body in this world. If this is true, Socrates suggests, then the soul must cohere after death, since otherwise it could not return to animate another body. Socrates ' task, then, will be to show that the souls of the dead may return to this world in other
Plato believed that the body and the soul were two separate entities, the body being mortal and the soul being immortal. In Plato’s phaedo, this is further explained by Socrates. He claims that by living a philosophical life, we are able to eventually free the soul from the body and its needs. If we have not yield to our bodily needs, we should not fear death, since it can than permanently detach the soul from the body. The most convincing argument for the immortality of the body is the theory of recollection, which shows that we are already born with knowledge of forms and that learning is thus recalling these ideas. If we are already born with knowledge this implies that are soul is immortal, since it would otherwise be a blank page.
Plato also believes that the soul is entrapped inside the body and for those who seek
He believes that the soul takes shelter within the body. The three parts are all located in three different areas: reason is in the mind, spirited is in the heart, and desire is in the stomach. Reason is what controls the whole soul (Plato p. 49). The mind tells the body what to do, how to feel, what to say. The mind controls our appetites and decides who to honor according to memories about those people or events. The spirit is in the heart, the heart is what shows us how we feel about others. The stomach is desire as we crave to have certain possessions such as food or other physical materials in life. If what Plato is saying is any truth, than the argument presented that our soul is our life and our body is nothing but what carries our soul, is therefore false and unsupported by this idea of the mind, heart and stomach. Then so, our thought that Plato’s idea that we can make ourselves alive, is fairly reasonable and true. This is because it is more understandable to say that the reason why our souls are what makes us alive is because our souls are physically made of three parts that control the way we live. Our body is now not only what carries life for us, but what allows us to keep it. Our soul is different from the body because it represents life, but it is our body that allows our lives to
Aristotle argued and disagreed with Plato’s views of the self and soul being a separate from the body. Aristotle’s view is that all humans have a soul, yet they cannot be separate from the body in which they reside. To him, there are four sections of the soul; the desiderative and vegetative parts on the irrational side are used to help one find what they are needing and the calculative and scientific parts on the rational side are