The execution of Socrates is an occasion in the Phaedo for a discussion of the nature of the soul with reference to the Forms

In the Republic Plato characterizes the soul differently than he does in the Phaedo and expands upon the Forms

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Argument for Existence of FormsSimilar objects exist & can be known to be similare.g. Leo & Leona the lions

There must exist something, the Form of BEING-A-LION, that makes them similar & which is known when similarity is recognized

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Forms continue exist even if the objects that they “inform” stop existingEven if Leo dies, Leona remains a lion similar to other lions

So, Forms do not depend for their existence on sensible/physical objects

Rather, sensible/physical objects depend for their existence on forms

Forms are eternal & unchanging since they are neither sensible nor physical

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Forms exist eternally in a “separate realm”; they do not exist “in” sensible/physical objects

Forms known innately by a priori reason, not a posteriori sensation

Forms are (like)Exemplars or Perfect ModelsExpressed by good definitionsLaws of Science, Morality, Mathematics

Abstract Designs or Instruction Sets4

Forms are the natural targets or objects of the rational faculty = the soulKnowledge is the activity for which the rational faculty is designed

Knowing the forms is the aim of the rational faculty

Knowing the forms constitutes happiness for the rational faculty = the soul = the self

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Hierarchy of Being & Value Governs the UniverseForms are more real than physical or sensible objectsForms are eternalForms determine the physical

Forms are better than physical objects since they are more real than physical objects & the true objectives of the rational/deliberative soul

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Form of the Good = the supreme formhighest in both value and being“informs” all thingsNotice:

apparently, there is no form of the Bad

apparently, all things are goodhow then can we correctly judge anything to be bad or evil?

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The Metaphor of the Cavenote

cave is prison; not “home” degrees of reality illusory sensationdependence of all things on the sun

those who remain in the cave disparage the knowledge of the enlighted

process of dialectical ascent 8

I = my soul My soul is different from my body My soul is immaterial & imperceptible My soul includes my cognitive (and

maybe my affective) capacities Soul is the seat of knowledge; body is

the conduit of illusory sensation

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Soul has innate knowledge of the unchanging principles that govern all aspects of the universe = Forms

Soul is immortal; body is mortal Soul is naturally determined to pursue

what is good and valuable The body can draw the soul away from

the good towards what is not good So, death of body is an advantage to the

soul

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Your essence is what is necessary for your existence

To discover your essence: try a thought experiment?Is my capacity for cognition essential

to me?Is my body essential to me?

Might I exist without my body? Might I exist without a body?

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Compare computers and programsdistinguish hardware and softwaredistinguish algorithm and program

Are you related to your body in the way in which a program or algorithm is related to a computer?

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Argument from Recollection In sensation we know only the particular:

e.g. in sensing two approximately equal sticks, we sense the particular sticks but not Equality-in-general (i.e. the Form of equality)

Sensing the equal sticks may make us think of or enable our understanding of Equality-in-general

The only way that sensing could enable understanding of what is fully general is if sensing is a mnemonic cue for something known innately and a priori independent of, and prior to, sensation

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This knowledge of the fully general/universal must therefore exist in us innately before the possibility of sensation, i.e. before birth

Hence, we must exist before the birth of the body

If we exist before the birth of the body, then we can exist without our bodies

Since we are identified with our souls, our souls exist before and independently of our bodies

Hence, death of the body does not imply death of the soul 14

Notice that the Phaedo’s argument from recollection is similar to the proposal in the Meno that recognition (i.e. classification or categorization) is really the matching of an innately known form against a perceptual experience

In the Meno Socrates uses the situation of the Slave Boy to illustrate the existence of innate knowledge of the forms. The uneducated slave has never learned

geometry Yet, as revealed by the slave’s correct replies to

Socrates’ leading questions, the slave innately knows a complex theorem of geometry 15

What is simple cannot be decomposed or otherwise destroyed and is therefore immortal

The soul is simple becausethe soul is non-sensible and, hence, simplethe soul is that which has knowledge of

what is simple and indestructible (i.e. forms); so, it is likely similar to the simple and indestructible

so, the soul is likely simple The soul, as simple, is indestructible and,

hence, immortal 16

By definition, the soul is alive (just as by definition, the number 3 is odd)

What is true by definition is necessarily true

Hence, it is necessarily true that the soul is alive

Hence, it is impossible that the soul not live

Hence, the soul is immortal 17

In the Phaedo the soul is represented as Simple, without internal parts, and, hence, immortal

In the Republic the soul is represented as Exhibiting internal conflict between three parts

Reason Spirit (emotion) Appetite (desire)

A tripartite soul must be complex rather than simple and hence decomposable, destructible and mortal Eg: Dementia as decomposition/destruction

Am I the rational part of the complex soul? Am I immortal if my soul is complex?

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