Plato's theory of forms and the death of socrates / Phaedo

Theory of forms 

• Plato’s Theory of Forms holds that true reality consists of eternal, perfect Forms, while the physical world is an imperfect copy, and only knowledge of the Forms counts as genuine knowledge

Final argument 

• P1: opposites will not receive opposites 

• P2: the soul necessarily participles in the form of life 

• P3: death is the opposite of life 

• C1: therefore, the soul will not receive death 

• P4: that which will not receive death is indestructible 

• C2: therefore, the soul is indestructible 

• Why is the body alive?

• Not because it participates in the form of life, but rather because of some concrete thing which is always necessarily and essentially connected with life, the soul

• So given that death is the opposite of life, we can conclude that the soul will never receive or admit of death without ceasing to be itself 

• And that which will never receive or admit of death is indestructible so the soul must be indestructible. It will not perish, but withdraw at the onset of death 

The consequences of immortality 

• Consequences of the conclusion that the soul is immortal 

  • Socrates attitude towards his death is appropriate 

  • We must care for our souls not only in life, but for all time 

Plato's myth 

• An alternative account of the shape of the earth 

• A sphere in the middle of the heavens 

• We dwell in the hollows of this sphere thinking we are on the surface 

• People do live on the surface 

• Various rivers connect the region 

• We should risk the belief because the risk is a noble one 

• We should pursue virtue and the pleasures of learning rater than wealth and the pleasure of the body 

Socrates death 

• He drinks the hemlock cheerfully and he suggests that through death he is being cured of the illness of life 

The phaedo likens Socrates to what mythical hero? 

Theseus