Descartes Proof Of Existence Essay

The existence of a soul and its connection to the human body is debated often in metaphysics, since its substance could possibly prove or disclaim the existence of life after the body dies. If the soul exists, and is unrelated to the body, then it may possibly continue on without a corporeal form. If the soul is a byproduct of the body, than it is just as mortal, and will cease to exist when the heart stops. It is my belief that the soul is the result of thought, and is unconnected to the human body, and will exist after death. Descartes ' proof of existence “I think therefore I am” states that it is impossible to not exist, since even if someone was trying to persuade him that he existed, when he did not, he would first have to exist to …show more content…
In Phaedo, the soul is characterized by cognitive and intellectual characteristics. It is something that can use reason and controls the body. The body is just a vehicle for the soul. Saint Thomas Aquinas argued that the soul is what makes the matter of a living being. Socrate 's belief was that the soul was incorporeal, immortal, and controlled the physical body. He argues that the soul is what keeps the body alive, death is the result of the soul ceasing to animate the body. The soul must be in the body for the body to be alive. He is presented as being noncommittal and unsure about where the soul goes after the body has died in Apology …show more content…
I do not believe in philosophical enlightenment while the body is alive. Full spiritual awareness can never exist until we are released from this realm, since in the world of becoming things are constantly changing. Buddhism teaches the theory of reincarnation of the soul, until the soul reaches complete enlightenment. Then it too is released from the imprisonment of a body. Empedocles and Pythagoras both believed that plants have souls (though Empedocles preferred the word daimôn), and that humans can be reincarnated to animate a plant. Empedocles himself claimed to have been a bird, fish, and bush in a previous incarnation. Pythagoras, reported by Xenophanes: “Once, they say, he was passing by when a puppy was being whipped, and he took pity and said: ‘Stop, do not beat it; it is the soul of a friend that I recognized when I heard its voice.’” Pythagoras believed that is was his friend 's soul in the dog. I do not believe plants have a soul, since plants do not express thought or emotion. If they did, their soul would not be reincarnated and recycled until enlightenment. I believe the soul belongs uniquely to the body, and when that body dies, it is free to either transcend time and space in another realm, or haunt this one without a