• Home Page
  • The Soul And Soul In Simmias's Theory Of The Soul

The Soul And Soul In Simmias's Theory Of The Soul

Improved Essays
Show More
In Phaedo, Simmias believes that the soul is similar to the harmony made from an instrument. Socrates points out two statements that make Simmias rethink his views on the soul and the body. As Socrates turns down Simmias 's theory of the soul, not only is he able to convince Simmias, he is also able to make great arguments that support his ideas on how the soul cannot be relatable to the attunement of an instrument. Simmias 's opinion on the soul is that the harmony that is produced by an instrument is similar to the relationship between the body and the soul. Simmias mentions that the soul exists before it enters into the body of a person however the soul is composed of elements that do not exist yet. His comparison between the soul and a harmony is that a “harmony is something invisible, …show more content…
Simmias believes that the soul controls the components that make it, however, Socrates points out that “a harmony does not direct its components but is directed by them” (Phaedo 93a). The soul is not controlled by the body like the harmony of an instrument. Harmony is dependent on the components of the instrument but a soul is not dependent on the body for any reason. The soul is not able to be a harmony because “being a soul is not a matter of degree, whereas being a harmony is” (Bostock 423). This is the main point that Socrates is able to mention to Simmias. Because a harmony is determined by the structure of an instrument, a harmony can have different types of harmonious sounds. “If it is more and more fully harmonized, be more and more fully a harmony, and if it is less and less fully harmonized, it will be less and less fully a harmony” (Phaedo 93b). This statement is not the same when it comes to the soul because a soul cannot be any more or any less of what a soul is considered to be, however, an instrument can have many variations of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Socrates Principle Of Division Analysis
    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Socrates Principle Of Division Analysis

    In other words, he suggests that the soul, as a whole, has parts that are divided up into areas much like the body. For example, consider the virtue or desire to be healthy. Socrates suggest that while there is a desire to be healthy, there is also an opposite desire to be unhealthy. These opposite capacities are the kind that exist simultaneously. Since they exist at same time, Socrates would say that they are in direct opposition to each other in the soul.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    James Rachels 'Do We Survive Death?'
    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages

    James Rachels 'Do We Survive Death?'

    Cebes likewise showed himself against Socrate by proclaiming that the soul can't exist in light of the fact that for the soul to be…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Pursuit Of Virtue In Plato's Republic
    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Pursuit Of Virtue In Plato's Republic

    By this, Plato meant that reason did not overcome spirit, spirit did not over come appetite and so on. The soul was essentially balanced. Plato believed that a soul that is in disorder is miserable and that person will never achieve happiness. He compared the soul to that of a city. An ideal city is that where all parts of the city are working together.…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Letters To Herodotus Analysis
    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Letters To Herodotus Analysis

    If the soul is so closely tied to the body, this presents some problems. Since the soul is present as a part of every human body, and human bodies have similar morphologies, then that means all souls a structured in a similar way. This part of Epicurus’ experiment makes sense because since the soul is responsible for sensation, sensations should be similar across all humans. Proof exists in the real world because universal feelings, such as grief over the death of a loved one, manifest them selves across different people and even different species. However, the lapse in reasoning comes when Epicurus states that thoughts result from a complex set of sensations.…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Tripartite Soul Argument In Plato's Republic
    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Tripartite Soul Argument In Plato's Republic

    In the Republic, Plato introduces many of his viewpoints and ideals through arguments. Some examples of what he introduces are what defines a city, principles of specialization, the tripartite soul and the sun, the line and the cave. In this paper, we are going to focus on the tripartite soul argument and the nature of justice. The tripartite soul argument states that a human soul is divided into three distinct parts that all want to achieve different goals. The soul, according to Plato, is composed of a rational, a spirited, and an appetitive factor.…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Phaedo And Descartes: The Comparison Of Mind And The Body
    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Phaedo And Descartes: The Comparison Of Mind And The Body

    During the Golden Age of Pericles ' Athens, Plato, an intellectual individual, set out to understand the relations that occurred between the body and the soul. With immense studying of his former teacher, Socrates, Plato came to his realization that the body and the soul were in fact separate from one another. Not only are the two separate, but he discovered that the soul itself is immaterial and immortal and wishes nothing more then to (insert freeing the body quote). Plato’s understanding of the body would not have been possible without Socrates’ theories of opposites, recollection, and scattering of objects.…

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Socrates Cyclical Argument Analysis
    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Socrates Cyclical Argument Analysis

    The “cyclical argument” of the Phaedo imparts the ideology Socrates had in regard to the immortality of the soul and his views about death, which he was about to face himself. Among a gathering of his most faithful followers, his friends are astonished that Socrates is not desolate about his ill fate, but rather, he is delighted with it. Socrates proclaims that the life of a philosopher is merely a preparation for death since the mind is most pure when the pressures of the body is felt least. He even informs them that he believes in the soul and the afterlife. After his friends vocalized their skepticism of his beliefs, he begins a discourse in which he attempts to prove the immortality of the soul.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Phaedo: Plato And The Argument From Opposites
    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Phaedo: Plato And The Argument From Opposites

    The Phaedo is perhaps one of the most well-known dialogues written by the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato. This dialogue recounts Socrates’ final hours before his death as told by Phaedo of Elis, one of the philosophers present during that time. Along with him were Crito and two other Pythagorean philosophers, Simmias and Cebes. The main focus of this dialogue is on the subject of immortality and the soul, and whether or not the soul will survive death. Socrates provides four arguments in which he aims to prove that the soul is in fact immortal.…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Soul And The Body In Aristotle's De Anima
    • 1885 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Soul And The Body In Aristotle's De Anima

    Nonetheless, one of the primary notes that Aristotle makes in demonstrating this application of this theory to bodies and souls is indeed difficult to deny. He claims that for any body, of any kind “having life,” (or, the body of a living being), the body itself “cannot be soul” (Aristotle 412a19). This indeed is a claim that is generally accepted, for the claim that the body and the soul are distinct neither a new nor a radical claim. Hence, for animate bodies, the body itself “is the subject or matter, not what is attributed to it” (Aristotle 412a19). If the body is a substance in the sense of matter, it follows that the soul, then, is the “substance in the…

    • 1885 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Socrates Soul Analysis
    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Socrates Soul Analysis

    However, Socrates is still unsure; he still believes that the soul could be one entity rather than split into three. So to prove it he states that each part of the soul…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Role Of The Soul In Plato's Republic
    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Role Of The Soul In Plato's Republic

    One of the main arguments Plato makes is that the soul has the function of “caring for things, ruling and deliberating (Republic, 353d).” He goes on to add that living is also an essential part of the soul. We can conclude from this that a good soul cares, rules, deliberates, and lives well, while a bad soul does none of these…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Glaucon Justice Analysis
    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Glaucon Justice Analysis

    In order to show that human’s soul is plurality, Socrates uses the principle of opposites – a single thing is never characterized by opposites at the same time, in relation to the same thing, and in the same respect. Since this principle must be true, it is impossible for one thing to be conflicted. Sometimes, it appears that a thing is beautiful and ugly at the same time; whenever such situation occurs, it must mean that there is more than one thing. For example, there will be no contradiction if a chair is beautiful and ugly at the same time, as long as it is beautiful in respect to its form and ugly in respect to its color. Otherwise, a chair must be either purely beautiful or purely ugly.…

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Plato's Final Argument For The Imorality Of The Soul
    • 1675 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Plato's Final Argument For The Imorality Of The Soul

    In the Phaedo, Plato provides several arguments in an attempt to prove the immorality of the soul. In this essay, I will focus on his Final Argument, which describes the Forms as causes, subject to destruction or displacement when the particular undergoes some change. Next, I will show how Socrates applies these ideas to argue for the immortality of the soul. Finally, I will present a few reservations I have about the validity of this argument.…

    • 1675 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Good And Evil In Plato's Ancient Greek Philosophy
    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Good And Evil In Plato's Ancient Greek Philosophy

    Many things have changed since man was first made out of the dust of the earth, but the passage of time finds humanity today continuing to struggle with reality (and themselves) just as their predecessors did many years ago. Worldview (that is, one’s perception of reality) is critical to how an individual comes to terms with such things, as it both shapes and is shaped by the person who holds it. Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, is no exception, but is noteworthy as much of Western thought stems from the contemplations of his enigmatic mind. The worldview held by this philosopher is based upon a moral framework of absolutely defined good and evil, a separation between a true self called “soul” and the physical body (just as archetypes…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Plato's Theory Of Human Nature
    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Plato's Theory Of Human Nature

    Plato felt as the Body was a hindrance to the soul, almost as if the body is the prison of the soul. Plato believed that you need to balance all sides of the soul depending on what kind of society you live…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings