What Do You Do with a Drunken Soul:
Socrates on the "Corporeal" Soul and Death
Defending the immortality of the soul in the affinity argument of the Phaedo, Plato, through Socrates, emphasizes the split between the world of Forms and the world of the senses. Plato begins by positing that there are two kinds of existences: that which is composite, visible, and changeable, and that which is non-composite, invisible, and unchangeable. The former represents sensed objects and ideas, while, the latter contains the Forms. Having established this concept, Plato goes on to state that the body is, then, analogous to the visible, and the soul is analogous to the invisible. Therefore, the soul must belong to the same world as the world of the Forms.
…show more content…
In 83d, Socrates is presenting a negative portrayal of the majority of humans. He assumes that most humans will be unable to avoid the temptations of the body in the form of "pleasures or pains." Nonetheless, he believes that the only people who can escape the body are those who practice philosophy. Ergo, his statements on the "corporeal" soul are a reflection of his lack of faith in the ability of the vast majority of humans to discard the illusory "truths" presented by the body for the pursuit of real …show more content…
As Socrates established that "only... when we are dead [may we] attain that which we desire and of which we claim to be lovers, namely wisdom" (66e), the philosopher is in the constant pursuit of wisdom. Death is the only way to fully separate the soul from the body, and, thus, potentially attain wisdom. Therefore, philosophers face death because they do not fear the consequences, but, rather, anticipate them. The same can be said of moderation as philosophers will "be closet to knowledge if we refrain as much as possible from association with the body" (67a). Hence, the philosopher turns towards moderation and away from pleasure to separate herself from the body to bring herself closer to truth and knowledge. Socrates maintains that practicing such a lifestyle "is a kind of cleansing or purification" (69c), and that "he who arrives [in the underworld] purified and initiated will dwell with the gods" (69d). Therefore, this purity is a loophole in the condemnation to the "corporeal" soul laid out in 83d. In the discussion of reincarnation, Socrates supports that "(n)o one may join the company of the gods who has not practiced philosophy and is not completely pure when he departs from life, no one but the lover of learning" (82c). Therefore, everyone is condemned to reincarnation and the "welding" of the soul to the body, unless
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...
The differences of mind and soul have intrigued mankind since the dawn of time, Rene Descartes, Thomas Nagel, and Plato have addressed the differences between mind and matter. Does the soul remain despite the demise of its material extension? Is the soul immaterial? Are bodies, but a mere extension of forms in the physical world? Descartes, Nagel, and Plato agree that the immaterial soul and the physical body are distinct entities.
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
Phaedo was set in a prison. While in prison, Socrates contemplated whether or not there is an afterlife and whether or not the soul can survive death. He explains that we discuss the soul because it applies to all humans; it’s more personal, closer to us than the nature of being. Socrates adds that he doesn’t fear death because it means fearing your soul. You shouldn’t fear the unknown, but embrace it. Furthermore, he comes to the conclusion that the soul is immortal based on the following 3 arguments.
...I agree with most everything that he has said on the topic in the Laches. Having said that, I do not think that the definition of courage and virtue that Socrates has provided is sufficient enough to be complete. In regards to the “affinity argument” for the preservation of the soul after death, I enjoyed the argument and I think that it is very believable and even possible. However, his whole argument rests on the reader’s acceptance of the theory of Forms. Overall, I have to say that Socrates has amazing insights into very tough metaphysical problems and that he has giving me much to ponder.
Socrates was a philosopher who was true to his word and his death was ultimately felt by his closest friends and followers. In Phaedo, Socrates is met with his closest friends during his final hours as they await his death. At this point Socrates is prepared for death and seems to welcome it. Although death may seem like a scary inevitable fate that we all must face at one point; Socrates saw death as a privilege mainly because he believed that the soul was immortal. As a result, Socrates provides arguments as to why he believed the soul was immortal and even though all his arguments lacked unconvincing evidence, he does bring up good points. In this paper I will talk about Socrates’ most and least convincing arguments on immortality, and explain what Socrates’ problem was with Anaxagoras.
Socrates: A Gift To The Athenians As Socrates said in Apology by Plato, “...the envy and detraction of the world, which has been the death of many good men, and will probably be the death of many more…”(Philosophical Texts, 34) Throughout history, many leaders have been put to death for their knowledge. In Apology, Socrates- soon to be put to death- says he was placed in Athens by a god to render a service to the city and its citizens. Yet he will not venture out to come forward and advise the state and says this abstention is a condition on his usefulness to the city.
In the passage on page 121 of Plato’s book “Phaedo”, Socrates begins explaining to Cebes the struggle that the soul sometimes has to overcome. He starts by referencing the fact that the soul is, “imprisoned in and clinging to the body”(121: 82e), in this Socrates is referring to the soul as a human being and the true form of being. He uses this quote because he is saying that the average person in society is more worried about materialistic things and their desires more than the ideas that matter, such as the power of intellectual knowledge. He infers that when a human begins to think in a materialistic way, it traps his or her soul and does not allow them to live freely and is the leading cause in one's imprisonment. Socrates instead suggest that if they were to not alienate themselves from “The lovers of learning”(121: 82e), they would be able to see the true meaning of the soul as philosophers do.
Socrates discusses that people should not fear death because we do not know the qualities of death. Even though we do not know what death is, he makes some suggestions for the possibilities after death. He suggests that maybe death is just an endless sleep without dreaming, it is where we can finally come to peace with ourselves. He also suggest that maybe in the afterlife he will be able to meet heroic people in the past, where he can share his experience and question people to see whether they are wise. Even in death Socrates is still going to practice philosophy even if the place is bad. Even if he did not live a just life that he thought he did, he can examine what he did wrong and fix the problems in the after life. I agree with Socrates
In the Phaedo Socrates claims that the soul is indeed immortal, that it lives forever and cannot die even after the body has died, thus philosophers spend their lives devaluing themselves from their body. Socrates presents the Theory of Recollection to persuade his fellow philosophers that have convened inside his cell that the soul is immortal. In essence, the recollection argument refers to the act of learning, because the soul is immortal, according to Socrates, then this suggests that when a person is learning something they are actually relearning it, because their soul has existed before they were born. This idea of recollecting knowledge is prominent and is the most convincing argument in proving the existence of immortality through the soul, however, this argument does not suggest that the soul continues to exist after death and lacks clarity regarding what truly happens after a person dies.
The final argument, Cebes argument says the body might harm the soul, or cause it to be destroyed over time. Socrates responds by establishing the casual power of forms. Forms are “ideas” but are also causes of things in the world. This is because the properties of things only belong to objects in relation to the forms they represent. These forms never become opposites. The idea of tallness can never be the idea of the
For this, Socrates understands that there is a definite separation between the ideas of death, whether it be experiencing a "dreamless sleep" or an ascension toward a greater good (Apology, 40d). In Phaedo, the execution of Socrates, Socrates expands on his idea of the soul becoming free in relation to death. To Socrates, the process of death is defined as "the body comes to be separated by itself apart from the soul, and the soul comes to be separated by itself from the body" meaning that the physical nature of oneself is dead but the soul carries on (Phaedo, 64c). From here, he focuses primarily on what good can come from death and why he chooses not to resent it. He speaks of joining "the company of good men" and go to Gods who "are very good masters" which elevates the idea of death and that it should not be feared if what is to come in has the potential of being greater than existence itself (Phaedo, 63c).
“…Those who are about their souls and do not devote themselves to the body disassociate themselves firmly from these others and refuse to accompany them on their haphazard journey…” (Phaedo, 82d). Socrates is talking about how others waste their time focusing on the body when the soul should be the focus. He refuses to go and do what everyone else is doing because God has commanded him on his journey of philosophy. These people do not devote themselves to the correct way of life. You need to gather knowledge and wisdom through questioning with the Socratic Method. Wisdom and knowledge is knowing you are ignorant and doing something about it by getting more in touch with the non-physical world. Asking others questions and seeking a wise person to ask questions is how you should attain wisdom. He says you should also gather knowledge from yourself and look inside yourself for answers and cultivate the soul through virtue. Philosophy is also essential to human life. Living your life through philosophy and using it as a guide to ask questions is the way to live
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