Degrees of Separation in the Phaedo
Phronesis 48 (2):89-115 (2003)
| Abstract | It can be shown that, if we assume 'substance dualism', or the real distinctness of the soul from the body, then the standard objections to the Cyclical Argument in the "Phaedo" fail. So charity would presumably require that we take substance dualism to be presupposed by that argument. To do so would not beg any question, since substance dualism is a significantly weaker thesis than the immortality of the soul. Moreover, there is good textual evidence in favor of this presumption. A closer look at the immediately preceding passage, viz. "Socrates' Defense", reveals an argument for a real distinction between soul and body, not unlike Descartes' famous argument, based on the identification of an activity in which the soul can in principle engage on its own, without assistance from the body. The argumentative project of the "Phaedo," on this reading, becomes: given that the soul is really distinct, show that it is immortal. And Plato aims to do this in two stages. The three initial arguments are meant to establish merely the minimal claim that the continued existence of the soul across cycles of reincarnation is the most plausible view to take, given substance dualism; and it is left to the Final Argument to argue for something that we might regard as immortality, that is, the imperishability of the soul, come what may | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,875 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesM. Pakaluk (2003). Degrees of Separation in the Phaedo. Phronesis 48 (2):89-115.
Brian Prince (2011). The Form of Soul in the Phaedo. Plato 11 11.
Denis O'Brien (2007). « Immortel » Et « Impérissable » Dans le Phédon de Platon. International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 1 (2):109-262.
Sarah Broadie (2001). Soul and Body in Plato and Descartes. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 101 (3):295–308.
G. Boys-Stones (2004). Phaedo of Elis and Plato on the Soul. Phronesis 49 (1):1-23.
George Boys-Stones (2004). Phaedo of Elis and Plato on the Soul. Phronesis 49 (1):1-23.
Jason T. Eberl (2010). Varieties of Dualism. International Philosophical Quarterly 50 (1):39-56.
Edwin M. Curley (2001). The Immortality of the Soul in Descartes and Spinoza. Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 75:27-41.
Suzette M. Evans (1981). Separable Souls: A Defense of Minimal Dualism. Southern Journal of Philosophy 19 (3):313-332.
Martha C. Beck (1999). Plato's Self-Corrective Development of the Concepts of Soul, Forms, and Immortality in Three Arguments of the Phaedo. E. Mellen Press.
Marleen Rozemond (forthcoming). The Faces of Simplicity in Descartes’s Soul. In K. Corcilius, D. Perler & C. Helmig (eds.), The Parts of the Soul. De Gruyter.
Kevin Corrigan (2011). Simmias Objection to Socrates in the Phaedo: Harmony, Symphony and Some Later Platonic/ Patristic Responses to the Mind/Soul-Body Question. International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 4 (2):147-162.
Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra (2008). Descartes's Substance Dualism and His Independence Conception of Substance. Journal of the History of Philosophy 46 (1):69-89.
Shelly Kagan (2012). Death. Yale University Press.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-08-31Total downloads12 ( #94,595 of 556,840 )Recent downloads (6 months)2 ( #39,122 of 556,840 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
