Remediation

The Purpose of Philosophy:

  1. there is such a thing as death

  2. death is the separation of the soul from body

  3. the true philosophy is not concerned with the needs and the pleasures of the body

  4. the true philosopher is concerned and nurtures the soul, which is eternal

  5. Therefore, the true aim of philosophy is to practice for dying and death

Argument from Opposites

  1. the balance of being alive and being dead repeat in a cycle

  2. the creation of life is the opposite of dying

  3. the consequence of having no cycle of rebirth leads to death forever

  4. everything would remain in its original state if not for opposites

  5. if life and death didn’t balance each other out, everything would remain dead

  6. Therefore, the soul probably exists before physical birth and after bodily death

Argument from Recollection

  1. learning is recollection

  2. to recollect anything, one must have known it before

  3. specifically, if one perceives one thing and thinks of another thing of which knowledge is different, they recollect the second thing. (just because you know somebody, they are different from an object that reminds you of that person)

    ex: the picture of your dad is not HIM but OF him

  4. Recollection can be occasioned by things similar and dissimilar

  5. when caused by similar things, the similarity is deficient in some way

  6. therefore, the soul probably existed before physical birth

Argument from Affinity

  1. the soul is divine and non-composite while the body is material/mortal

  2. Only when the soul is pure can it make it out of the world when the body dies, BUT if the soul is polluted by bodily influence, it will stay bound to the world upon bodily death. 

  3. Therefore, supposing it has been freed of bodily influence through philosophical training, the soul is most likely to make its way to world(b) when the body dies. If, however, the soul is polluted by bodily influence, it likely will stay bound to world(a) upon bodily death.

Another Argument about the Soul’s Immortality

  1. the soul is essentially alive

  2. Nothing can have contrasting properties

  3. death is the opposite of being alive

  4. Therefore, the soul can never be dead

Argument about the Just Soul

Justice: to be rightly ordered or carrying on as one ought to according to nature

virtue: a disposition or habit towards the good; to have balance and order

vice: a disposition or habit that shows excessive or deficient behavior; to be imbalanced and disordered

Most have already accepted that the “just” are happy and the “unjust” are wretched

  1. Things perform their function well if they have the virtue appropriate to them and badly if they have the relevant vice

  2. the functions of the soul are to be the principle of life for living things, ruling and governing, deliberating for the life it is in charge of

  3. A virtuous soul does these things well; a soul that has vice does things badly

  4. Justice is the virtue of being rightly ordered and doing what one ought to according to nature

  5. Therefore, the virtuous soul (rightly ordered and doing what it ought to according to nature) is said to be just.

  6. The just soul lives well; an unjust soul lives badly.

  7. Living well is being happy and living badly is being wretched.

  8. The just person is happy, and the unjust person is wretched