Two concepts of the soul in Plato's Phaedo : a beginner's guide to the Phaedo and some related platonic texts on the immortality of the soul.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Topping, Ryan N. S. (Ryan Nathan Scott), 1977-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plato. Phaedo.

Plato.

Immortality (Philosophy).

Death.

Socrates.

Physical Description:

ix, 61 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, MD : University Press of America, [2007]

Summary:

Two Concepts of the Soul in Plato's "Phaedo" is a fresh study of Plato's psychology with particular focus on his arguments for the immortality of the soul. Through detailed textual study, this new work examines the structure of the dialogue making explicit the nature of the argumentation within the text and its relation to Plato's other accounts of immortality. The author argues that the view of the soul in the Phaedo can be usefully separated into two concepts, which he terms the basic and total concepts. The basic concept consists of the features of the soul that are not used by the character Socrates as the foundation for arguments showing either the pre-existence or post-existence of the soul. In addition to the features contained in the basic concept, the total concept includes the features used as the basis of arguments intending to prove either the pre-existence of the soul, as well as the features of pre-existence and post-existence themselves. This book will prove useful to upper-level undergraduate or graduate students of ancient philosophy, philosophy of the mind, classics, and ancient history.

Contents:

Four Aspects of the Concept of the Soul 2

Two Concepts of the [Characters not reproducible] in the Phaedo 3

2 The Basic Concept of the [Characters not reproducible] in the Phaedo 9

Division of the Subject Matter of the Text of the Phaedo 10

Features of the [Characters not reproducible] Not Used as the Basis for Arguments for Immortality 12

Conclusion: Statement of the Basic Concept of the [Characters not reproducible] 17

3 The Concept of the [Characters not reproducible] in the Phaedo: Features in Addition to the Basic Concept 19

Four Arguments Intended to Prove the [Characters not reproducible] Will Survive Death and Exist Forever 20

1st Argument: Generation from Opposites (70C-72E) 21

2nd Argument: Learning as Recollection (72E-77D) 23

3rd Argument: The [Characters not reproducible] is Similar to the Forms and to Divinity (78B-80D) 25

4th Argument: The [Characters not reproducible] as the Principle of Life will not Admit its Opposite (102B-106E) 26

The [Characters not reproducible] of the Genuine Philosopher in the Afterlife (80D-84B; 114C-E) 29

How the True Philosopher Lives in this Life: Philosophy is the Training for Death 31

Conclusion: The total concept of the [Characters not reproducible] in the Phaedo 34

4 Alternative Treatments of the [Characters not reproducible] in Some of Plato's 'Middle' Dialogues 39

Meno: Recollection as the Basis for Showing the immortal [Characters not reproducible] 39

Symposium: Vicarious Immortality and the Search for the Beautiful 40

Republic: The [Characters not reproducible] is Immortal and Has Three Parts 42

Phaedrus: The Tripartite [Characters not reproducible] is an Unmoved Mover 45

Conclusion: Alternative Treatments of the [Characters not reproducible] Contrasted with the Phaedo 46

5 General Conclusion 51

Summary of the Findings of this Study 51

The Moral Value of Socrates' Arguments for the Immortality in the Phaedo 54.

Notes:

Includes index.

Bibliography: pages 59-60.

ISBN:

076183401X

9780761834014

OCLC:

137292635