One argument Socrates uses is that snow always brings cold, as fire always brings hot. Fire will not bring cold and snow will not bring hot. He uses these opposites to say that soul brings life with it; therefore the soul will never bring death, the opposite of life. Anything that doesn't fall to death is indestructible. The soul must be indestructible. I agree with Socrates that the soul lives on. It makes sense to me that the soul is indestructible with his reasoning behind it.…
Summary: In the section of immortal souls I learned that Socrates believe that the soul would never die. People saw him with craziness. They told him that how was it possible if it had not…
After explaining who Crito was, I then went on and discuss Phaedo which is the death scene. Jacques Louis David based his painting on the death scene. It was the day for Socrates to drink the hemlock. He said that he would like to take a bath before he crosses the great divine. Crito ask Socrates if he would like to be buried and Socrates said that they can do whatever with his body. Socrates went on great lengths to say after he passed away, his soul will leave his body and it will live on eternally and that the body that is left behind will no longer be him. Socrates also told him that he should not be upset to see his body being buried or cremated. Socrates goes into the next room to speak to his family and give them his last farewell and…
Plato’s “Phaedo” is a dialogue between Socrates and his friends, Cebes and Simmias. These two men have asked Socrates to prove to them that the soul survives after death due to its immortality. Socrates gives them several arguments, which ultimately lead to his conclusion that proves the soul’s immortality and furthermore its perishability. Socrates proves that soul lives despite the body’s death by showing that if an entity has a certain characteristic, it will not accept the characteristic that is the opposite to its own. Socrates believes that the soul and the body are two entirely different things; the body is created to disappear after death and the soul is created to exist forever after death.…
Socrates who was he? “Socrates was a Greek philosopher. Socrates was born c. 470/469 B.C., in Athens”. (Wiki) In Phaedo, I understand that Socrates he has arguments that demonstrate that the soul is immortal. “If we live on after bodily death, there is no reason to fear it.” (Phaedo) However, these ideas are attributed to Socrates in Phaedo. Of course we have no way of knowing if he feared death or not. He appeared not to fear death but who knows. You hear people say all the time, "I have no fear of death"--I've even thought that to myself-- but there's no way they or myself can know that until the last few minutes of life. I think that virtually everyone will fear death at…
This quote is significant because it exemplifies the way Socrates uses HIS method. Socrates uses metaphors in order to humbly enlighten his audience. At times Socrates structure of explanation is perceived to be complex and or difficult to interpret. To simplify what he is attempting to get across usually takes a thorough examination. Socrates is from ancient times and his methodology still suits fit to modern day. Analyzing the context of his circumstances before death alone goes to show the depth of understanding one needs to comprehend his ideology and beliefs. This quote also provides us with the notion of not being selfish and to avoid pretentious. When one thinks about death or the chance of dying when they’re in a predicament because…
After all this, Socrates goes on to the story about a man returning from the afterlife and describing it. At the end of the story, he says that because he and his companions have established that the soul is immortal, and because this story speaks about the immortality of the soul, it is even more important for people to be just and seek good and true knowledge in their life. This, in turn, will bring them much happiness in both this life and the…
True wisdom which Plato calls the Form, is not physical as the body is. Since the body, with its appetitive and passionate characteristics, militates against the contemplation of the Form (which results in the attainment of the Philosopher’s quest – true wisdom) death, the liberation of the soul, becomes a rite of passage into the everlasting enjoyment of that true wisdom. So, if the philosophers are lovers of wisdom, and if the true wisdom is invisible as the soul and if death liberates or separates the body from the soul so that the soul now has unlimited access to true wisdom, then the philosopher ought to be cheerful in the face of death because he is about to gain the everlasting reward.…
In this paper, I will evaluate Socrates’ argument from Phaedo for why philosophers should desire death, perhaps only secondly to wisdom. I will argue that Socrates unfairly characterizes the truthfulness of the senses, and therefore projects a pessimistic view of the philosopher’s virtue during life. This pessimism towards life in conjunction with arguments for an afterlife that liberates reason, seems to suggest that Socrates believes philosophers should desire death: a happy prospect for condemned man, but perhaps a biased one.…
In the Phaedo, Socrates does not fear death because he believes that his soul is immortal and will be sent to heaven after his death. It is worth noticing here that he pre-assumes that the soul exists, so his central argument is not about whether the soul exists, but whether it is immortal. One of his arguments is that the soul is invincible, and invincible things can’t be destroyed, so the soul is immortal. I shall explain more fully this argument in the next paragraph. Then I shall offer my objection on his premise that invincible things can’t be destroyed, and thus how his argument of the immortality of the soul is invaid.…
In the chapter "Do We Survive Death" by James Rachel’s quotes' perspectives about the presence of soul. Socrates insists that every person is made out of a physical body and a nonphysical soul. For a man…
Even though this reading is old it still carries great value and importance because it shows that knowledge as Socrates argues is not ours but it belongs to God. Hence, Socrates’ work will continue even after his death “For the word which I will speak is not mine.” It reminds me of Jesus Christ, which story is similar to Socrates’. They both followed a divined forced rather than their own interests and hence both didn’t have a sign of this divine force until the very end. However, their end, death, might seem a negative end to others but the opposite was for both Socrates’ and Jesus’ point of view. Furthermore, their deaths didn’t stop the work they were doing and were accused of but it rather intensified it, making other to seek same path or belief.…
Throughout time there have been many different views of what afterlife is. Plato and Christianity are no different; between the two ideas there are many similarities and differences that can be distinguished. Plato believed in the idea of immortality and dualism. He believed that the soul was immortal both before and after death, and that the body was mortal and ceased to function after death. Plato believed that your soul has always existed and always will, and that your embodied life as a human is just a small part of your existence. Plato believed that the disembodied soul was the highest form of survival because the immaterial realm of the forms is the highest form of existence. In other words Plato suggests that your embodied existence is not nearly as ideal as your disembodied existence. The basis of Christianity is bodily resurrection. Like Plato’s theory Christianity also believes in the cessation of bodily functions after death, and also believes that the soul does exist for a time disembodied. However in Christianity the soul begins at birth and is not immortal, it dies with the body, and then is resurrected after an unknown period of time by God. Christianity suggests the theory that people follow the Christian Doctrine of Predestination. This is essentially the theory that humans cannot chose whether they will be saved to heaven and from hell. It is the idea that some humans are chosen by God as elect, and some humans are damned by God. In other words; a person can do nothing about their predestination. The idea of predestination is not contingent upon status, or moral character, it is only by the grace of God that a person may be saved. This idea has been controversial, but many well known Christians were known to believe in predestination. Many Christians also believe in the idea that humans have partial control over their afterlife. They believe that they can achieve salvation by through moral character, and belief. This is also a widely accepted…
In the Phaedrus, Plato’s most commonly employed myths are those in relation to the soul. Plato implies that he believed that the soul has no beginning and has no end- that it simply is. Every aspect of the soul is simply built onto the already established soul. Our souls define how we interpret new and old things and how we decide to live our lives. Our souls are composed of multiple different parts, all pertaining to past events. The different myths mentioned involving the soul help his audience to gain further access into his own…
In his work titled Phaedo, Plato portrays his master Socrates in his final day before execution. Many philosophers gather with him and a dialogue arises, by which Plato conveys one of the most fundamental theories unfolding the after life. During this conversation Socrates exposes his believe of the immortality of the soul, arguing that he indeed is eager to die, claiming that death just represents the separation of soul and body. According to him, philosophers prepare throughout their lives for this, given that by the soul alone, reason, and wisdom flourish. By presenting different ideas like the argument of opposites, the theories of recollection and forms, and the simplicity argument, Socrates manages to fully convince his visitors of his…