In his work Phaedo, Plato, through the voice of Socrates, voices his opinions on the immortality of the soul. Throughout the novel, Socrates asserts that he does not fear death, but welcomes it. Because Socrates is a philosopher, he has spent his life embracing the idea that the soul can only obtain pure knowledge upon being separated from the body. Socrates thus welcomes death because his soul will be from the body and surrounded by pure knowledge. In his Argument from Recollection, Socrates argues that before uniting with a body, our soul acquires knowledge of Forms, concepts with absolute properties. Upon uniting with the body, the soul forgets this knowledge and recollects this knowledge when perceiving different objects.
Plato argues …show more content…
He is then reminded of another unrelated object. For example, if a person were to see a necklace and think of his grandmother, he must have had knowledge of his grandmother before seeing the necklace. In Premise 2, Plato asserts that we are aware of Forms and that these Forms have absolute qualities. An absolute quality has the property of only being what it is. An absolute property can not be what it isn’t. A stick can be equal to one stick but unequal to another stick. Equality, however can only be equal and never unequal, and inequality can only be unequal and never equal. Objects can have two properties simultaneously while Forms have absolute properties. In his third premise, Plato declares that we obtain our knowledge of Forms by using our bodily senses to perceive objects. When we are looking at two equal sticks, we believe that they are equal because we know the sticks are striving to embody the Equal. With support from Premises 1 through 3, Premise 4 reads that we must have already had existing knowledge of Forms before we are reminded of them through perception. In Premise 5, Socrates eliminates the possibility that we have gained knowledge of Forms in any other way than through perception and …show more content…
Through the voice of Socrates, Plata divulges that our knowledge of Forms is lost at birth but can be recollected with aid from the body’s senses. However, throughout the novel, Plato argues that death allows the soul to be free from the body and acquire true knowledge. On one hand, Plato states that the body is an obstacle to knowledge but on the other he states that the bodily senses are necessary for acquiring knowledge. By revising his argument to make a distinction between knowing and recollecting or who can or cannot acquire true knowledge, Plato could further strengthen his
Plato argues …show more content…
He is then reminded of another unrelated object. For example, if a person were to see a necklace and think of his grandmother, he must have had knowledge of his grandmother before seeing the necklace. In Premise 2, Plato asserts that we are aware of Forms and that these Forms have absolute qualities. An absolute quality has the property of only being what it is. An absolute property can not be what it isn’t. A stick can be equal to one stick but unequal to another stick. Equality, however can only be equal and never unequal, and inequality can only be unequal and never equal. Objects can have two properties simultaneously while Forms have absolute properties. In his third premise, Plato declares that we obtain our knowledge of Forms by using our bodily senses to perceive objects. When we are looking at two equal sticks, we believe that they are equal because we know the sticks are striving to embody the Equal. With support from Premises 1 through 3, Premise 4 reads that we must have already had existing knowledge of Forms before we are reminded of them through perception. In Premise 5, Socrates eliminates the possibility that we have gained knowledge of Forms in any other way than through perception and …show more content…
Through the voice of Socrates, Plata divulges that our knowledge of Forms is lost at birth but can be recollected with aid from the body’s senses. However, throughout the novel, Plato argues that death allows the soul to be free from the body and acquire true knowledge. On one hand, Plato states that the body is an obstacle to knowledge but on the other he states that the bodily senses are necessary for acquiring knowledge. By revising his argument to make a distinction between knowing and recollecting or who can or cannot acquire true knowledge, Plato could further strengthen his