The Relationship Between The Body And The Soul In The Phaedo

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In this essay, I will be providing evidence to three different arguments first, I will state the relationship between the body and the soul in the Phaedo. Secondly, I will state how Plato’s argument for affinity support his view and last but not least the reason why a philosopher is unafraid of death. There are two kinds of existences, the visible and the invisible. The invisible existence always remains the same whereas the visible never does. The body is more like to the visible existence and the soul is invisible. Visible things are those we know that exist because they have a form and invisible things are those we cannot see, they have no form. As mentioned above the argument of affinity states that there are two kinds of existence. Plato also mentions that the body and the soul are two different things. “When the soul and the body are together, nature orders the one to …show more content…

“ I am afraid that other people do not realize that the one aim of those who practice philosophy in the proper manner is to practice manner for dying and death.” Plato, Five Dialogues, (USA: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc, 2002), Pg 101 In order for a philosopher to truly live by his beliefs he must experience death. “It really has been shown to us that, if we are ever to have pure knowledge, we must escape from the body and observe things in themselves with the soul by itself. It seems likely that we shall, only then, when we are dead, attain that which we desire and of which we claim to be lovers, namely, wisdom as our arguments, not while we live… either we can never attain knowledge, or we can do so after death.” Plato, Five Dialogues, (USA: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc, 2002), Pg 104 In order for a philosopher to gain more knowledge he must die. One must be separated from the body so that it can take a look at the world with our soul itself from a different

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