Plato, PhaedoPHIL 102, Hendricks, Fall 2015

The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787), public domain on Wikimedia Commons

What we’ll discuss from Phaedo

• Plato’s idea of “the forms”

• Why, according to Socrates, the philosopher should not be afraid of death

• Arguments for why the soul continues after death

Quotes about “forms”Euthyphro p. 7

Phaedo pp. 6, 12

What are forms?• The essential nature of properties

that many things share (such as justice, beauty, goodness)o or the essential nature of a class of

things (such as triangles, circles, trees, humans)

About the forms• Universally, objectively true, never

changing

• Exist outside of our heads

• Grasped through reason, not senses

2+2=4180°

From Plato’s “Seventh Letter”

• Definition of the thing or property in words or thoughts

• Images or physical objects that have the form

• Knowledge of the truth about the form

• The form itself—only this is unchanging

Seen and unseen (12)Visible Invisible/intelligible

Physical objects, images, sounds

Forms

Grasped through senses

Grasped through reason

Compound/composite (multiple parts)

Simple unities

Changing, dissolvable

Unchanging, not dissolvable

Problems w/knowledge from senses

Sensible objects are changeable & not always purely “just,” “beautiful,” etc.

Can appear differently acc. to perspective

Why should we think forms exist?

• Mathematical truths

• Moral objectivism & moral relativismoConcerns with moral relativism?o Forms allow for moral objectivism

• Where do we get knowledge of perfect archetypes?

Fear of death

What reasons does Socrates give in Apology and Phaedo for why he’s not afraid of death?

What is the “soul” in Phaedo?

• Different from & separable from bodyoContinues after deathoCan be reborn into a new body

• The mind & reason, rather than “loves, lusts, fears…” (6)

Why philosophers should not fear death

• What is Socrates’ argument on pp. 4-7?

• Criticizing arguments:oAre the premises true or

likely to be true?o If we assume the

premises true, does the conclusion follow necessarily or with high probability? Socrates, British Museum, by

Marie-Lan Nguyen, on Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.5

Arguments for soul continuing after death

• “Argument from Opposites” (9-11)o Talk about in discussion meetings

• “Argument from Affinity” (11-14)o See below…

Arg. from affinity1. There are two kinds of things: “the seen

and the unseen” (12)—see earlier slide• Seen is visible, changeable, dissolvable;

unseen is none of these2. The body is more like the seen, the soul

like the unseen• Soul invisible• When soul tries to get knowledge thru body

(senses), is confused; only gets truth by itself• Soul is naturally ruler: like divine

Therefore, the soul is “almost or altogether indissoluble” (14)