Phaedo Philosophy 1 Spring, 2002 G. J. Mattey

Plato Born 427 BC Lived in Athens Follower of Socrates Founded the Academy Tried and failed to influence politics in Syracuse Died 347 BC

The Dialogues Plato wrote a number of dialogues between Socrates and his contemporaries They are usually divided into three periods –Early: concerning Socrates and his unsuccessful quest for an account of virtue (Euthyphro) –Middle: developing Plato’s own positions (Phaedo, Republic) –Late: examining problems with Plato’s views

Philosophy and Death Socrates’s imminent execution sets the stage for the dialogue He maintains that one aim of practicing philosophy is to prepare for death Philosophy frees the soul from the body as much as possible in life So the philosopher is thought by the many as being close to death

The Body The body is a hindrance to knowledge There is no truth in sight, hearing, etc. Reasoning comes closest to revealing reality We reason best when the body is not troubling the soul The body gives rise to needs and desire, which in turn produce disruptive conflict

Virtue The philosopher, the lover of wisdom, is contrasted with the lover of the body To face death “courageously” through fear of greater evil is inconsistent To be moderate in order to enhance pleasure is to be mastered by pleasure Only the philosopher can behave truly virtuously, by despising the body

Immortality The soul can attain true knowledge only if it is separated from the body True knowledge can be attained after death only if the soul continues to exist How can it be shown that the soul is immortal? This requires “a good deal of faith and persuasive argument”

Argument From Opposites 1.Opposites come to be only from opposites 2.Life is the opposite of death 3.So, life comes to be through death 4.Life can come from death only if the soul already exists without the body 5.The soul exists without the body only due to the death of a previous body 6.So, the soul exists after death

The Forms The Equal itself is not the same as things that are equal to each other (e.g., having the same length) The Equal itself is the standard by which things are equal to each other Other such standards include the Good and the Beautiful These standards are called “Forms” (eidos) They exist apart from the objects of the senses

Recollection 1.The soul can know the Forms, but not through bodily experience 2.So it either knew the Forms from birth, it acquired the knowledge at birth, or else it recollected them 3.If the Forms were known from birth or were acquired at birth, we would always know them 4.But many people do not know the Forms 5.So, the Forms are known through recollection

Argument from Recollection 1.The soul can only know the Equal itself by recollection 2.Recollection requires existence before birth 3.So, the soul existed before birth 4.If the soul existed before birth, then it existed after death [from prior argument] 5.So, the soul exists after death

Argument from Simplicity 1.If the soul ceases to exist, it must be because it it has decomposed 2.The Forms are simple and incapable of decomposition 3.The soul resembles the Forms in its simplicity 4.So, the soul is incapable of decomposition 5.So, the soul cannot cease to exist

Purification The life one leads determines one’s condition after death Polluted souls will be unhappy Eventually they will be reincarnated into an animal suited to their vices Only the completely pure can join the gods and attain true knowledge This is why philosophy is training for death

The Harmony Objection The Pythagoreans conceived of the soul as a harmony and the body like a lyre The harmony ceases to exist when the lyre is destroyed, so the soul would cease to exist upon the death of the body But a harmony is formed after the lyre, so if the soul were the harmony of the body, recollection would be impossible And we could not explain virtue and vice in terms of harmony and disharmony So the harmony account of the soul is rejected

The “Cloak” Objection The soul is said to outlast many bodies because it existed before those bodies Similarly, a man exists before many cloaks he wears out, and yet the last cloak of a person survives after the person’s death So the soul might be wearing its “last body” (which survives as a corpse after death)

Admitting the Opposite Socrates must make a digression about the causes of generation to answer the “cloak” objection He explains change through the Forms Forms do not admit of their opposites E.g., the Odd can never be the Even What necessarily brings along a property does not admit the opposite of that property The triad is odd, and so it cannot be even

The Final Argument 1.The soul can only bring life to the body into which it enters 2.So, the soul does not admit the opposite of life 3.The opposite of life is death 4.So, the soul never admits death 5.So, the soul is deathless 6.What is deathless is indestructible 7.So, the soul is indestructible

The Underworld When the soul leaves the body at the body’s death, it journeys to the underworld Socrates gives a detailed description (which he admits is not certain) of the underworld The wicked receive repeated punishment until they repent The virtuous are freed to live in the sunshine in beautiful dwelling places on the surface of the earth, and he hopes to join them soon