PHI 2323 Lecture 7

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Phaedo Continued

Eternity of the Soul 2

• We know "the Equal" through recollection
  • nothing in the world is perfectly equal
• We must have existed before birth in order to know this
• Equal is immaterial and not dependent on body
• Therefore, we are likely to live after death

Simmias' Objection

• Soul is the "harmony of the body" as music is to a lyre
  • Harmony depends on the producing instrument for its existence
  • Soul depends on body for existence
  • Once body dies, then soul ceases to exist
• (materialist view)

How would the philosophers have argued about flatworms, starfish, or grafted plants who can grow into entirely new organisms from a cutting?

Cebes' Objection

• Soul : Body :: Man : Cloak
• soul "wears out" many bodies
• perhaps you're in your last body, Socrates!

Socrates' Reaction

• He rejoices at the objections
  • We seek truth regardless of what it is!

Misology and Misanthropy

• misology is skepticism of argumentation in general
• similar to misanthropy
  • There are three types of people:
    1. People you can trust always
    2. People you can sometimes trust
    3. People you can never trust
  • Misanthropists have encountered too many people in the last category and therefore trust no one
• There are three types of arguments:
  1. Demonstration (mathematical proofs)
  2. Probable arguments (most arguments fall here)
  3. Sophistry and Fallacies (used most often by politicians)
• Someone who has encountered many bad arguments or false arguments might lose trust in argumentation

Reply to Simmias

• The soul exists prior to the body
  • Can a harmony exist prior to the instrument?

To be continued... [out of time]