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Separation Of The Soul In Socrates's 'Phaedo'

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In “Phaedo”, Socrates argues that the soul exists after the person has died. Socrates states that “if the living come back from the dead, then surely our souls must exist there…” To prove what he is arguing to Cebes, Socrates uses the categorical syllogism argument. He arrives to the conclusions that “living must come from the dead” and that the “soul exists without a body”. Premise 1: All things come to be from opposites .
Although this sounds rational, it is not completely true. It might apply to certain things such as beautiful and pretty, but things such as fruits and seeds only have one process of becoming. Premise 1a: All opposites have 2 processes .
In order for one thing to become another, there has to be a process in which this change has to occur. …show more content…

Socrates definition of death is the separation of the body and the soul. Therefore in order for a person to be alive, the soul must have a body. A soul with a body and a soul without a body are opposites from each other. Premise 3: Dead come from living in the process called dying .
In order for the soul to survive without a body, the soul must live with a body. The transformation from a soul without a body to a soul with a body, is how the process “dying” occurs. Premise 4: living come to be in process called being born .
Socrates states that the transition from death to living is when the person is born. The soul without a body, finds a body and is able to live again. Using a Categorical Syllogism argument with premise 3 and premise 4, Socrates arrives to his first conclusion. Conclusion 1: Therefore living must come from the dead.
Socrates Conclusion makes sense because of his dualist belief of the soul. If the soul is distinct from the body, the soul can either live with a body or without a body. Using another Categorical Syllogism argument with premise 1a and conclusion 1, we arrive to our final conclusion. Conclusion 2: The soul exists without a

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