Phaedo

After Socrates finishes his argument that the soul is like the Forms and therefore is immortal, Simmias interrupts and tries to disprove Socrates’ argument. He begins by comparing Socrates’ argument to a harmony in relation to its instrument (85e-86a). Simmias suggests that a harmony is to a soul as a lyre is to the body. He reasons that, if we accept Socrates’ line of argument, the harmony must not only preexist the lyre but also live on after it is destroyed. I find this reasoning to have one…

argument, granting some doubt to whether the Doctrine is actually the case. Another argument against the Doctrine of Recollection is one that the Doctrine does not account for how the soul ever came to know the knowledge. Socrates, at least in the Phaedo and Meno, makes no mention of how the soul learned all things, except that it learned them across its immortal “lifespan”. In essence, the regress problem affects Socrates’ argument. In trying to explain how humans can learn (or recollect)…

Socrates was arguably one of the most influential Greek philosophers within ancient history. From his great intellect came the reputation of being the father of western philosophy. Socrates spread his knowledge to many students, the most famous being Plato. Plato is the author of The Trial and Death of Socrates in which four dialogues describe Socrates’s final chapter in life. Through these dialogues it is often questioned whether Socrates was responsible for his own death at the hand of two…

Three very influential Philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, became some of the most well known and foundational philosophers to the world of psychology, religion, and philosophy. Through many years of instruction and travels Socrates had developed theories that later influenced Plato’s dialogues and Aristotle’s books. This built the foundation for the Western Style of thinking and psychology. Thousands of psychologists are influenced through their teachers and theories that they develop…

against euthanasia, as were Plato and Aristotle. In Plato’s Phaedo, Socrates remarks to his friend Cebes—before his execution—that a true philosopher ought to welcome death; however, suicide is unjustified. According to Socrates, although death is a blessing, one is not permitted to take their life, but must rather wait for it to be taken from them. We are the possessions of the gods, says Socrates, and have no right to harm ourselves (Phaedo…

arguments as to why I believe there is an immortal soul within each human being. Finally, I will look back at Plato’s strongest argument from the first section and give my personal take on his belief as to why we have an immortal soul. In the reading the Phaedo, Plato presents multiple arguments as to why he believes human beings have an immortal soul. Plato’s definition of immortal means a never ending cycle of the existence of the soul. When the body…

When one looks upon the history of the world, there are major themes that most eras and countries have had to deal with since the beginning of time. These themes include, democracy and popular sovereignty. In the eras of Plato and Socrates and Karl Marx these two themes come pronounced because of the work and revolutions that these humans have done. In the book written by Plato himself, the trial and death of Socrates the reader is introduced to four different stories about Socrates and his…

think about it. Socrates thinks that life begins when you find true happiness within the soul. Almost as if it is a burden to be in your body. Socrates said “Now here is a question for you, isn’t it the case that part of us is part body, part soul?” (Phaedo 79b) It is in this quote that Socrates is claiming for man to have a spiritual side along with his physical body. That spiritual side of you, your soul is immortal in Socrates thoughts. If there is a purpose to life then why would we stay in…

The Essence of Evil(New title Needed) In both Phaedo and Nicomachean Ethics, philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, respectively, are concerned with the concept of pleasure and how pleasure ultimately affects their end goals. While Plato is more interested in the negative aspects pleasure can bring into life, Aristotle writes both about the favorable and unfavorable facets of pleasure. To begin my argument, I will first explain Plato’s account of what he deems “the greatest and worst of all evils”…

What is the best picture we can have of ourselves? Is it true that we resemble avocados with a constant bio-mental center or general human substance, or would we say we are more similar to an onion or an artichoke shaped by layers of "society, authentic age, textuality, class, ethnicity, sex, age, level of social force" (261)? The inquiries are particularly human. As the twentieth century analyst Abraham Maslow finished up, "The inconvenience is that the human species is the main species which…