What are the 4 arguments in Phaedo?
The Phaedo gives us four different arguments for the immortality of the soul: The Argument from Opposites, the Theory of Recollection, the Argument from Affinity, and the final argument, given as a response to Cebes’ objection.
What is Simmias objection to Socrates?
Simmias’ objection is that the soul’s relation to the body might only be like the harmony or attunement of a lyre: “One might say the same thing also about an attunement and a lyre and its strings” (85e3-4).
What is harmony for Socrates?
1. A harmony cannot be in a state other than that of the elements out of which it is compounded. 2. A harmony does not make up the parts, but only follows them.
Who in the Phaedo suggests the Theory that the soul is a “ harmony?
In Phaedo, by Plato, Phaedo recounts an incident with Socrates. The story starts with Socrates opening up saying that Philosophers should not only accept death, but welcome it. After all, although the body will pass, the soul is able to live on because it is immortal.
What is Simmias harmony argument?
Simmias’ argument–harmony:lyre::soul:body (85e-86d) (1) The soul is a harmony. (2) A harmony is invisible, without body and like the divine. (3) A lyre is physical, bodily, composite, etc. (4) If the lyre’s strings are broken, the harmony no longer exists.
Which argument is provided in the Phaedo in support of the theory of recollection?
The Theory of Recollection shows that the soul existed before birth, and the Argument from Opposites shows that it must have been born from out of death. Bearing in mind that the soul has to be re-born after it dies, Simmias and Cebes are forced to acknowledge that it must continue to exist after death.
What is Simmias attunement thesis?
‘ In the person of Simmias, he presents the thesis that the mind is an emergent property of matter, and is dependent upon a particular organization of matter for its very existence. He likens it to a harmonious sound, brought about by tuned strings on a musical instrument.
What is Simmias view of the soul?
(86a-d)” Through his argument, Simmias is implying that the soul and the body are harmonious to each other, that they are a pleasing arrangement of humanity, and that the body would be nothing without a soul; a body would not be a body.
What is the argument from recollection?
The Argument from Recollection (72e-78b) Cebes mentions that the soul’s immortality also is supported by Socrates’ theory that learning is “recollection” (a theory which is, by most accounts, distinctively Platonic, and one that plays a role in his dialogues Meno and Phaedrus as well).
Was Simmias a Pythagorean?
Despite all this tenuous doxographical evidence, however, many modern scholars have accepted the Pythagorean origin of Simmias’ attunement theory of the soul, mainly because they think that the Phaedo gives us enough evidence for the attribution of the theory to Philolaus.
What is Socrates argument of recollection equality?
According to Socrates, people possess knowledge of the Equal itself before being able to perceive through their senses, objects of equal proportions . The recollection theory extends to the Beautiful itself, the Good itself, and every pure Form of the sort.
Who are cebes and simmias?
Cebes was a disciple of Socrates and Philolaus, and a friend of Simmias of Thebes. He is one of the speakers in the Phaedo of Plato, in which he is represented as an earnest seeker after virtue and truth, keen in argument and cautious in decision.
Who were simmias and cebes?
Simmias of Thebes (Greek: Σιμμίας Θηβαῖος; fl. 5th–4th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, disciple of Socrates, and a friend of Cebes. In his Memorabilia, Xenophon includes him in the inner circle of Socrates’ followers.
Which argument is provided in the Phaedo in support of the Theory of recollection?
What is Cebes argument?
Cebes says that though he follows the argument that the soul existed before birth, he is still not convinced that it is immortal. Unlike Simmias, he can believe that the soul survives the death of the body, but he does not take this in itself as evidence that it is eternal.
Is Simmias’ lyre/harmony analogy invalid?
Conclusion: The soul, like the harmony, perishes when the body, like the lyre, ceases to function. 1. Harmony is not pre-existent to the lyre. 2. Either Simmias’ argument, or the pre-existence of the soul, is invalid. 3. The pre-existence of the soul has been proven in Argument #3. Conclusion: Simmias’ lyre/harmony analogy must be invalid. 1.
Does Socrates support Simmias’s model of the brain?
Remarkably, Simmias’ argument and his analogy make perfect sense, given what we know of the brain through science today. Nevertheless, Socrates follows with three more arguments (#5, #6, #7) designed to show Simmias’ model to be unfounded and thus, the concept of the distinct soul triumphs in Phaedo.
What happens to Simmias when the brain is destroyed?
Still, such notions would be mere hypothesis at best and be very much in danger of slipping into extraneousness. Rather, we currently have every reason to suspect that when the brain is destroyed, Simmias’ harmony also ceases.