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What Are The Arguments For Phaedo's Existence

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In the dialogue Phaedo by Plato, Socrates offers three different arguments for the existence of the soul after death. The three arguments consist of arguments of the movement of life and death, argument from knowledge and memory, and the similarity argument. While each argument has its strong points, there are also some weaker points causing it to fall short. Of these three arguments, the argument of the movement of life and death is the worst because it is unclear as to what Socrates is alluding to when making such an argument, leading to the rise of different questions and interpretations. Socrate starts off by stating that “those that have an opposite must necessarily come to be from their opposite and from nowhere else” (Plato 107). …show more content…

In this quote, he is alluding that similar to the claims of just from unjust or the swifter from the slower, indeed life come from death and death from life, like a cycle. However, a question arises as to whether Socrates is talking about the soul or the body itself, causing the argument to fall short. It could be expected that he is not referring to the soul because the main purpose of the argument is to explain how the soul continues to exist when the person dies, “to believe that the soul still exist after a man has died and that it still possesses some capability and intelligence” (Plato 106). Nonetheless, if Socrates is referring to the body itself, it is absurd for him to claim that the body can die from the living and then be reborn into life again. Since this argument is meant to support the claim of existence of the soul after death, the terms “living” and “dead” may not be the best words to describe or explain such a process since the soul is not dead in any state or world. Instead, better terms such as “integrated/disintegrated” or “embodied/disembodied” can better represent the opposites of the soul within the body during life and the living soul away from the body after

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752 Words | 4 Pages

Another question that is left unanswered is where or how the souls obtained the knowledge if inquiry is not a factor. We also do not have proof that the souls actually exist- and we are basing that off of the assumption that Socrates’ is correct. His response loops us back around to the initial issue, and in term it may even create it’s own paradox. He believes that the soul is immortal, and has lived many lives and learned things and has true beliefs, but does not answer the question of how we know if those beliefs are absolutely true or not.

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376 Words | 2 Pages

No matter which path death is, death is a gain. One will either be a peaceful sleep, or a journey to another world filled with intelligent people and knowledge. He had support to his theory, but only talked about conversing with people from the past. The apology is repetitive in the last two paragraphs because Socrates desired to talk to all these different people. He did not clarify as to why living on Earth was cruel and that death was the only answer.

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1225 Words | 5 Pages

In Plato’s dialogue Phaedo, he explains the soul and comes to the conclusion that the soul is immortal. Through describing the last hours of Socrates life before his execution, he lays out three arguments in support of the idea that while the body may cease to exist the soul cannot perish. In this paper, I will explicate Socrates three arguments for the immortality of the soul and their objections. Then I will argue on the presupposition of the Law of Conservation of Mass, that the universe, entailing the soul, must be cyclical. The Law of Conservation of Mass

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411 Words | 2 Pages

The final argument of Plato’s Phaedo was created to prove souls cannot perish. Plato does so by arguing how a soul cannot die nor cease to exist on the same fundamental grounds of how the number three can never be even. For the number three holds the essence of being odd, without being odd entirely. Similarly, a soul holds the essence of life through immortality, however the soul is not immortal itself and only participates in immortality, just as the number three participates in being odd. Additionally, an essence or form cannot admit to the opposite of itself just as small cannot be large simultaneously, and hot cannot be cold.

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564 Words | 3 Pages

He also believes that it is not difficult to refrain from death, but it is difficult to stay away from evil since it surrounds us all. Doing something evil and sinful will torment one’s soul forever, even after death. Socrates believes

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1397 Words | 6 Pages

Right after Socrates said how the first way death is a good thing, he states his second reason how it is a good thing by saying, “But if death is a journey to another place, and there, as men say, all the death reside, what good, my friends and judges, can be greatest than this?” What needs to be analyze by both quotes are the first parts, “Now if death is like this,” and “But if death is a journey to another place,” because what both of these two parts of quotes have in common is the word ‘if’. With the word if, Socrates is saying that he does not actually know that these things will happen after death, but it might happen. Going back, right after Socrates asked what reprehensible form of ignorance is, he explains why he does not fear death by saying, “I know but little of what happens after death, I do not suppose that I know.” All together what Socrates is saying, he does no actually know if death is a good thing, but if

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He thinks that if you have a ruined soul there is no point in living which means either way Socrates would face death. If he escapes jail then he might not live a happy life causing him to make rash decisions which ultimately lead to his death. The premises here is that if you do something then it will hurt your soul and if your soul is hurt then there is no point in living. The conclusion is not to hurt your soul if you want to live a good life. Socrates will abide by the law of Athens no matter the cost because it is the morally correct thing to

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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”.

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169 Words | 1 Pages

I believe when Socrates mentions the soul or “psyche,” he means the soul is an ongoing entity that exists in a body; yet, the body is swayed by the opinions of other people. Socrates was a lover of wisdom and asked questions about the soul that was continuously seeking what the soul desired, not the body. The desire may have been answers, meaning, happiness, knowledge, or wisdom. The soul seeks knowledge for itself and reasons away from feelings and pains that the body feels. Socrates states, “The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.”

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Socrates states that a good philosopher should not fear death, but rather embrace it and look forward to it. This is also where he comes out with the four claims of the separation of the soul and the body. With this point Socrates is trying to explain to Cebes, Simmias, and the others in the room that the soul is everlasting and outlives every body that it is ever in. They agree that the soul is long lasting but does not live forever. This is the end for Socrates as him and Crito head to the bath chamber and return to say goodbye to his three sons and the women of the household.

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633 Words | 3 Pages

In Plato’s, Phaedo, one of the arguments that Socrates makes for justifying his theory about the soul being immortal is the argument of opposites. The argument of opposites is found from 70c to 72c in the Phaedo. The argument is not logically valid as there are a few fallacies that occur with the definition of opposites with which Socrates defines his argument. This argument ultimately fails at being logically valid as contrary to premise 1, all things that have an opposite do not come from only their opposites. Socrates also does not specify in this argument whether he is referring to the soul dying or the body dying in the final premises.

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Socrates’ original argument was not valid or sound. The premises were corrected but the argument needed another premise to make the conclusion true. Adding premise two takes away any confusion there was to what immortality meant. Since Socrates’ spent almost the entire book creating a just person and a just city the information about what is good and bad for a soul makes sense. It also makes sense that those things cannot destroy the soul because injustice and other vices could only lead the body to make poor choices and possibly get sick or die from those poor choices.

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814 Words | 4 Pages

By death what he means is not an event, but a death in life. Because there’s no rebirth, there’s no changes, there’s not transformation without death” (West, 1). What does Plato mean by death in life? How can you die but continue living? To die in life relates to killing the past, close-minded, non-accepting version of yourself: Without this death, you will not achieve your true potential.

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1197 Words | 5 Pages

A sociological approach to self and identity begins with the assumption that there is a reciprocal relationship between the self and society (Stryker, 1980). The self has an influence upon society via the actions of the individuals, consequently creating groups, organizations, networks, and institutions. Reciprocally, society has influence upon the self via its common language and meanings which enables a person to engage in a social interaction, and to assume the role of the other. Identity is determined by the relationship between the self and the other and it is through this sense of identity that we identify ourselves as members of various ethnic groups as well as social classes providing us with a sense of belonging. Nations, in their

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537 Words | 3 Pages

Since the body is mortal, it constantly changes and is made of different parts, the soul must be immortal and unchanging because it is not composed of many parts. And the last argument (the argument from opposites) states that since death is the opposite of life, and opposites are interrelated (according to the cyclical argument), then when the human body dies, life must go on. This also relates back to the affinity argument because the soul survives

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