Philosophy 35
A. Lotoski
Plato’s arguments for the existence of the HUMAN SOUL1:
Plato presents 4 main arguments for DUALISM, which can all be found in
the dialogue “Phaedo”.
(i) Coming to be and ceasing to be (The Cyclical Argument). This argument
relies on the notion that opposites rely upon one another and in fact lead to one another.
In terms of life and death, this leads to the conclusion that, if life leads to death, then
death must also lead to life. So, the living come from - or are reincarnations of - the dead,
which then die and are born again (and so on).
(ii) Knowing is Remembering (The Recollection Argument). The second
argument is based on the idea that all knowledge is simply a form of recollection. This is
proven by showing that a young, untutored boy, with no knowledge of math or geometry,
can be led to display or "arrive at" knowledge which he did not know he possessed. How,
Plato argues, could he display such knowledge unless he were recollecting it?
(iii) The Indestructibility of the Soul (The Affinity Argument). The third
argument attempts to prove that the soul - although it may arguably predate birth - also
survives death. Since the body is mortal, changing and made up of different parts, the
soul - which seems not to be composed of many parts - must therefore also be immortal
and unchanging.
(iv) The Argument from Opposites. Since death is the opposite of life, and
opposites are mutually exclusive, therefore when the body dies, life must go on.
1
http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/pom/pom_platonism.htm