Socrates – Immortality of the soul

Extract

[...] Socrates Immortality of the soul There are many philosophies of the soul presented in ancient philosophy. Among them was Socrates who gave an influential account of the immortality of the soul. In the Phaedo, Socrates offers four arguments for the soul's immortality. This essay will discuss which of these four arguments is the strongest and why. It will begin with a reconstruction of the argument and a clear statement of its premise and conclusion. Next it will be explained how the argument proves its conclusion. [...]

[...] Socrates went so far as to say that true philosophers act cheerfully in the face of death, and the body shackles the soul in the body. In fact, the true philosopher looks for purification only once the body dies, as it is the body that is the source of evil: greed, wars and wickedness. The body acts as the tomb of the soul, and therefore death should not be feared because it will be released from the tomb. Socrates' makes an initial argument for the immortality of the soul that relies on the idea that the soul continues to exist after the body dies. [...]

[...] While it is not very strong, it is the best argument that Socrates presents in favor of the immortality of the soul because is illustrates that we hold some non-empirical knowledge (like the Form of Equality) when we are born, and this implies that the soul existed before birth to carry that knowledge. This essay has examined Socrates' theory of the soul being immortal. It is shown here that Socrates is not able to prove that the soul is immortal, as his [...]