Question Database: Ancient Philosophy: Plato
Phaedo
The final argument for the immortality of the soul in the Phaedo (102a - 107e)
1. What always (each time) makes a body alive is soul. Soul always brings life with it when it is present in something (105c-d).
2. Life and death are opposites. Now, Socrates and Cebes have just agreed (102a-105c) that if something always brings something with it, the ‘carrier’ will never admit the opposite of what it brings. So soul never admits death: it is deathless.
3. What is deathless cannot be destroyed. So when death approaches a living (ensouled) body, the soul flees, alive and unharmed.
Discussion question: Is the argument deductively valid?
A. Yes
B. No
Discussion question: Are all the premises true?
A. Yes
B. No
Answer: A, B (though controversial)
Topic:
Phaedo, immortality of the soul
Course Level:
Second year ancient philosophy
Notes:
Is the argument valid? Some say: No, at step 3. the argument begs the question, i.e., assumes the very thing it’s trying to prove.
Are the premises true? Many direct challenges. Some premises (all?) rely on hidden assumptions that are in fact false.
The argument is, in fact, formally valid. Perhaps the premises are not all true, but not as easily assailed as some have thought. To understand how it’s valid, we need to get clear on the doctrine of opposites spelt out in the long discussion 102a - 105c.