Structure of the Phaedo Part I: Prologue 57a-69 Part II: Logos 70a-107b 1st arguments & myth of reincarnation 70a-84c Challenge & first reply 84c-95e Forms, final argument & myth 107c-115a Part III: Epilogue 115a- 118a: death

2. Interlude: Simmias and Cebes Simmias Metaphor of harmony (soul) and lyre (body) Clearly music made by lyre and ‘harmony’ in the lyre destroyed when it is. Cebes Metaphor of weaver and cloak Body is “re-created” but at death, body and soul cease to exist.

Pythagoreans on Mind/Body Dualism “Soul” = real, albeit not physical entity = unity-basis of thought, action can’t be reduced to its physical basis Person = “soul” not body If (E) non-physical properties, must there (E) non-physical substances owning them? Problems with “soul” Doesn’t “soul” depend on body? Can soul be “permeated” by physical? How can one affect other? = ‘akin’ to Forms?

Harmony Argument 1. If Y depends on X & X is destroyed, Y is also. 2. Soul/mind :: body as harmony (harmonia) :: lyre. 3. The harmony, though “invisible,” depends on the lyre and its strings, which are visible, composite, destructible, so that if the lyre is destroyed, so too is the harmony. 4. Therefore if the body is destroyed, so too must be the soul/mind. Proves the impossibility of the immortality of the soul? Proves it is irrational to be a theist re the soul ?

Simmias on Mind & Body Materialism: ‘Soul’ = mental = processes of thought, perception depends on physical caused/explained by events in the body (i.e. brain, nervous system) = off-shoot (epiphenomenon) of physical Problems: “soul” Mental different from physical ‘Soul’ seems independent of body in some ways Seems = center & owner of thought and action

Cebes’ Weaver Argument 1. Y can survive X, but this does not imply Y lives forever, e.g. the weaver can survive his cloak, but this does not imply he lives forever. 2. Soul/mind is to the body as a weaver is to his cloak, i.e. he is separate from it, and can ‘outlive’ his body, perhaps through many reincarnations. 3. But at the end, the soul/mind, just like the weaver, must also perish. Suggests a way soul as a life-principle at work in living things. But if true, ‘soul’ and ‘body’ are functionally interdependent.

Interlude: Misology,Misanthropy Simmias and Cebes evoke the Minotaur = Fear of Death Socrates must rally his friends to ‘stand firm in the argument’ Danger = power of misology, “philosophical cynicism” Analogy to misanthropy, “interpersonal cynicism”

Socrates vs. Simmias Arguments may be driven by the desire to win, we should question them 3 arguments: conflict between 1. 91c-92d: Harmony and Recollection Argument 2. 92e-94b: Harmony and idea of good and wicked people 3. 92e-94b: Harmony and conflict idea of self-rule

3 rd theory of mind/body ‘Soul’ = person Owner of thought, agency Depends on physical Two-in-one: ‘person’ = embodied soul with both mental and physical properties Problems Body not = ‘cause’ of person & their actions, but person can’t act without it Still puzzling how ‘mind’ brings about actions in world Is ‘world’ also dualistic in this way?