One argument Socrates uses is that snow always brings cold, as fire always brings hot. Fire will not bring cold and snow will not bring hot. He uses these opposites to say that soul brings life with it; therefore the soul will never bring death, the opposite of life. Anything that doesn't fall to death is indestructible. The soul must be indestructible. I agree with Socrates that the soul lives on. It makes sense to me that the soul is indestructible with his reasoning behind it.…
In Plato’s work The Republic, Plato’s introduces his mentor and teacher Socrates. In this allegory, Socrates questions one of his students, Glaucon, about the ideas behind reason and our senesces. Socrates sets the scene in an eerie, dark cave with fire as their source of light. Socrates emphasizes that the men are chained from head to toe and can only see the shadows from the objects that the “marionette players” place in front of the light. The light reflecting from the outside world and the fire are projected on the wall of the cave in front of their eyes. These men only know about the shadows of the outside world and believe the notion that these are the real object/item presented. Socrates then inquires a situation in which each “man converses…
He reiterates his point that something cannot accept its characteristic’s opposite by stating that, “…not only opposites will receive opposites, but also that nothing which brings the opposite will admit the opposite of that which it brings, in that to which it is brought” (Plato 3). He says that one of the characteristics that the soul possesses is life, which is the opposite of death, so, “…the soul, as has been acknowledged, will never receive the opposite of what she brings” (Plato 3). Socrates explains that the soul can never admit death because it possesses a quality that is death’s opposite. When death approaches the soul, according to his previous arguments, it would either retire or perish; however, “…the soul when attacked by death cannot perish” (Plato 4) because the soul cannot admit death. He believes that when death comes to a man, his body dies, but his soul is preserved (Plato 5). Socrates proves that the soul will not admit death and when it is approached by death, it will not perish, but retire to another…
Therefore, Simmias must choose the case he prefers: that the soul recollects, or that the body and soul are comparable to a lyre and its harmony. Simmias selects the argument of recollection, realizing that a harmony can only exist if the lyre is created, and that a soul is previously created, and fills the body at birth. The second argument made by Socrates outlines the fact that in order for a harmony to exist, it must be perfectly attuned. Simmias, however, realizes that some souls are evil, while others are good. In a comparison of the soul to the harmony, some harmonies would be attuned, while others not attuned. If this were the case, a true harmony would not exist. The final argument Socrates makes describes that the lyre produces harmony. If the soul were in fact like a harmony, then the body would have full control over…
Plato considered the soul ‘to be the immortal essence of the person’ and to house three individual parts- Reason, Emotion, and Desire (Jowett, 2007). While the soul…
In his philosophy, Plato places a large emphasis on the importance of the idea of justice. This emphasis can be seen especially in his work ‘The Republic’ where, through his main character Socrates, he attempts to define the nature of justice and to justify this definition. One of the methods used by Socrates to strengthen or rather explain his argument on justice is through his famous city-soul analogy, where a comparison between a just city and a just soul/individual is made. Through this analogy, Socrates attempts to explain the nature of justice, how it is the virtue of the soul and is therefore intrinsically valuable to the individual, but it becomes apparent in the analysis and evaluation of the analogy that there may have been several purposes behind it. Inconsistencies within the analogy itself also raise questions to the validity in Plato’s definition and justification of justice.…
In order for this to be, Socrates must go into depth about the soul, because that is where we are affected by madness and find our happiness. This is the connecting link that leads one explanation of love as madness to a discussion of the soul. The main idea focuses on the soul being the driving force that leads a person here on earth and in the afterlife. It is always in motion and as a self-mover has no beginning, it cannot be destroyed. According to Socrates, the soul is immortal, divine, and infinite. It is the soul that presides over all aspects of life. The proof is in Socrates' own definition of the soul that goes beyond all living and non-living things in both the human life and the afterlife. I believe that Socrates uses very direct, obvious dialogue about the nature of the soul to be as perfectly clear as possible about the main idea of the text. The soul is something that is unbreakable, immortal, and generates all human action. Socrates outlines how the soul is the basis for all that he speaks about; the essential lesson which all his speeches are based…
Socrates uses the slave boy of Menon to illustrate his believe in recollection through the geometric experiment. This, he says, that all knowledge exists in the soul. That very notion makes the soul immortal. Socrates also states that things of human nature hang on the soul. And a wise soul guides rightly while a foolish soul does otherwise. With that a good soul is that which applies wisdom and not inherently good.…
Before I started reading Plato's the Republic, I was loathe to admit that reading those philosophy books were gonna really change how I view myself. It was totally a waste of time to read these vague and complicated books. As I went on reading the republic, I saw many similar things that still existed in our society. In the book, Plato prescribes severe dictates concerning the cultural life of the city. He rules out all poverty, with the exception of hymns to the gods and eulogies for the famous, and places restraints on painting and architecture. Does this look like "Cultural Revolution" that happened in China in late 60s in twentieth century? There are differences though, which is how the leaders see the results of the destruction of human civilization. Plato expresses regret at these aesthetic sacrifices, he feels they must be made for the sake of education, which transforms the unhealthy luxurious city into a pure and just city. However, our great leader didn't see any ruinous effects on our society until he reached the end of his life.…
The principle stated at 436c, that the same thing cannot do, be or undergo opposite things in the same respect, in relation to the same thing, at the same time is a basic premise in Plato’s argument. This principle supports the conclusion stated in 439c, that if we are thirsty and rejecting the drink at the same time, there is something in the soul urging us to drink and something different stopping us. At first, I am going to reconstruct the argument, then try to show how the argument works, and why this principle is so important. The argument is: P1 The same thing cannot do, be or undergo opposite things in the same respect, in relation to the same thing, at the same time.…
With these upcoming elections around the corner, it has come to my attention how knowledgeable the citizens of the United States are about potential leaders and their civilians. In Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” written in his book, The Republic, he explains in an allegory on how people are blinded by what government leaders (in his era) were actually doing. He uses the allegory of prisoners limited of moving their heads around, forcing them to see that shadows that passed on the cave’s wall. These prisoners sought to shadows to be reality when the truth is that the shadows were a disguise to the reality. When one prisoner was freed from imprisonment, he left the cave and began to see the reality of things; at first he was distraught by…
The conversation between Socrates and Alcibiades continues with them talking about how the soul is separate from the body. There is nothing that has more authority than the soul within the body. Socrates then states that people who know their parts of the body know what belongs the them, but not themselves. This means that their body parts are for their bodies, but they body parts do not belong to the soul. Again. Socrates brings up that people who tend to their bodies tend to what belongs to them rather than what belongs to themselves. This helps Socrates bring up the point that the person who loves the body is someone who who loved something that belonged to the body, but Socrates is the one who loves Alcibiades’ soul and not his body. Love is loving another person’s soul as long as they are making progress. The person who loves Alcibiades soul will not leave him unlike the people who love the body. Socrates will love him unless he became corrupt and ugly. The body changes and the soul continues to grow. Socrates points out that he is…
As a philosophical treatise, it is to be commended for appreciating the complexity of human motivations, however given our contemporary biological knowledge we can see that the simplified composition of the ‘soul’ espoused by Plato may be untenable. Also, by virtue of the soul being a conglomerate of three distinct forces, this raises philosophical issues regarding the soul’s immortality (that has been and is still affirmed by the author).…
Plato believed that a healthy and virtuous soul is one that functions harmoniously. He thought of the soul as being divided into…
In Plato’s, Phaedrus, Plato describes what has become known as the Tripartite Soul which describes the human soul as having three parts corresponding to the three classes of society in a just city. Individual justice consists in maintaining these three parts in the correct power relationships, which reason ruling, spirit aiding reason, and appetite obeying.…