The Four Arguments And A Myth In The Phaedo

There were four arguments and a myth given in the Phaedo in an attempt to prove the immortality of the soul. The first argument is that things come from their opposites. In this argument small things come from larger, weaker from the stronger and faster from the slower. “Then if something smaller comes to be, it will come from something larger before, which became smaller? That is so, he said. And the weaker comes to be from the stronger, and the swifter from the slower?” (71a) He goes on to compare this to death. He says that death and live are opposites and thus come one from the other. The concept introduced here implies that reincarnation is the way in which humans come to be. (Note: not coming to be.) This also sets up the next argument of recollection. …show more content…
He gave an example of a lover seeing a lyre which is used by the loved is then reminded of the loved at the sight of the lyre. In that way, says Socrates, are people reminded of things which they knew from before they were born. The example he first give to illustrate this point is about equality of things and how when we see equal thing we know not only that they are equal but we have knowledge of 'equal' itself. “But what of the equals themselves? Have they ever appeared unequal to you, or Equality to be Inequality?” (74c) He explained that there is a difference between objects being perceived equal in someway and the very concept of equality which is recollected from knowledge already