Plato's View on the Immortality of the Soul - Essay Sample

Introduction

In this paper, I will argue that Plato was right to follow the footsteps of Socrates in supporting that the soul is immortal, and nothing can destroy it. Since Socrates was Plato's teacher, Plato saw the need to follow his teachers' teachings and did research about it and came up with his views. First, I will explain the critical definitions of the term's immortality and immaterial and how Plato came to conceptualize the issues. Secondly, I will have a deeper scope on Plato's view on the soul being immortal and immaterial and also the effects of Socrates's teachings on Plato's research. I will also look at the arguments on proofs of immortality given by Plato to expound on the soul, being immortal and immaterial. Lastly, I will discuss the impacts of these philosophical thoughts on today's world. The reason I supported Plato's arguments on the soul being immortal and immaterial was that he said, "a man who has truly devoted his life to philosophy" is "confident of finding the greatest blessing in the next world when his life is finished" (Coutinho 213).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Plato argues that the soul has both are immortal and immaterial and also has capabilities of executing roles of the mind, which include acquiring knowledge and reasoning. Immortality could be defined as the continuation of a person's life even after death (NIikam 248). Soul has no extensions and thus cannot be perceived through any sense. That is why it is referred to as immaterial. Plato continues to argue that the soul is trapped in human death, and even after death, the soul exists outside the body and remains eternal, and hence he referred to the body as the prison for the soul. Plato continues to convince his audience that since the body and the mind are in different forms, they work dependently on each other for mutual benefits. The body is mortal and also visible, while the soul is immortal and invisible. In this view, Plato broadens his scope to his listeners by explaining further that existence comes in two kinds; visible and invisible. He continues to add that when one dies, the physical body dies and vanishes, and the soul which is invisible continues to preserve its existence. He further expounds his studies to illustrate that the soul exists in the form of life, and this makes it become immortal and alive. Socrates and Plato both believed that the soul could not die; it would either seize to exist or withdraw from a particular form hence becoming immortal.

Plato believed in life after death. Since he came after Socrates and he thought that Socrates was not dead, and his writings would be remembered even in his death. In his writings, Plato wrote that even in death, Socrates has no fear of death since his soul will continue to live on forever. Plato does not see death as an end but as the beginning of something else. Socrates saw the sole purpose of spiritual life as to free the soul from bodily needs, and any theorist should view it as recognition of his/her aim. Socrates defined death by saying it is the separation of the busy and the soul. He continues to add that any philosopher should not fear death, which Plato seconded.

Socrates was a staunch believer of the afterlife, and Plato followed by his footsteps. Plato, in his research, he found out that immortality of the soul leads to dualism. Dualism is the belief that the soul can survive independently without the body. For Plato to fully support the immortality of the soul, he came up with several arguments. One was the argument of the opposites, which is derived from the rule of alternation and that of compensation. The argument states that a group of something has its opposite, and it is from that particular opposite. Also, Plato adds that not only do things go come from the opposite, they also can go to the opposites. He believes that when the soul leaves the body, it remains in a sleeping form until it finds another host for its next phase. In the new stage, it will change its form from sleep to awake. According to Plato, Socrates never feared death because he knew, in the end, there is life, and life came from death, so he knew he will still reincarnate eventually. Another one is the argument from recollection hypothesizes on the existence of the soul before one is born. He states that the soul was in a particular form, and it had real knowledge before it emerged in this world (Wrenn).

The knowledge your soul contains before birth is remembered before birth. Plato suggested that factual knowledge is the knowledge of forms. When the soul came into this world, it lost its real expertise, and it was trapped in opinions, imperfections, and perceptions. Recollection continues to be explained as we must have an idea about something to know what it is. For example, we have to have an acquaintance with perfection to know precisely what perfection is. Every one of us knows about forms equality, perfection, or even roundness (Nikam 257). Lastly, there was the argument of affinity. The evidence differentiates between invisible, immortal, and immaterial things to those that are visible, material, and perishable. The case stipulates that the soul is eternal, and its immorality may take diverse forms. Plato adds that there is an attraction between the soul and forms. In his view, forms are perfect eternal and immaterial. Forms are also comprehensible but are not functional, and only the soul can make them useful. Since only the soul can make the forms work, this means that the soul shares all the characteristics of the forms; eternal and immaterial making it immortal (Wrenn). Plato's understanding of the existence of forms has helped society in understanding and dealing with many days to day activities. For example, a criminologist in the law sector has to play the role of a criminal to conceptualize the nature of the crime. Form manifests itself here in that what is apprehending needs to have a similar nature as what is being perceived.

Plato, in his view, suggested that the immaterial soul is made up of two substances. He continues to explain further that in death, the material that survives, it is not the body of some other sort but an immaterial soul. Additionally, the soul is spiritual, which means that it has no extensions and hence cannot be observed through other senses (Nikam 257). Plato and other philosophers continue to support the doctrine by saying that after death, the soul leaves the body in a spiritual state and ultimately abide by another body during birth through a concept known as reincarnation.

Plato agreed with Socrates that the soul existed before the birth of the body, and this is evidenced by us spotting things that were not accessible to us. Knowledge of equality is the commonly used one in that we perceive equality as a form, and knowledge must come from previous forms. Henceforth, this argument tries to explain the metempsychosis of the soul (Nikam 258).

I agree with Plato for believing that the soul is immortal and immaterial since every aspect of today's life, either physics, religion, and even philosophy, believes in life after death. Plato and Socrates were not wrong, and their students extended their writings. The writings of their students proved that there is life after death, as we can conclude that Plato's soul reincarnated in them and took up their form. Plato's philosophical views are still in use in today's society in diverse ways. For example, in the criminology sector, they are used to capture thieves. Also, life after death has been incorporated into Christian and religious teaching to help Christians understand that they should not fear death as there is life after death. Every believer believes in something, and Plato infused that knowledge to ever learner of his article. Plato emphasized that a lineage does not end since one when one dies, the soul waits for the next body host to be born hence continuity of the descent. Plato's spirituality of the soul is still used in today's teaching as it has persuasively stressed the justification of the immorality of the soul. Immortality assures a person of a heavenly kingdom and personal immortality. Death is relief from earthly things and detachment of the soul from the body.

Works Cited

Coutinho, Matthew Marcel. "Plato and the immortality of the soul". Journal of Philosophy and Education, vol 14, no. 2, 2003, pp. 191-216., https://www.academia.edu/1272852/_Plato_and_the_Immortality_of_the_Soul_in_Divyadaan_Journal_of_Philosophy_and_Education_14_2_2003_191-216. Accessed 28 Mar 2020.

Nikam, N. A. "The immortality of the soul". Mind, LX, no. 238, 1951, pp. 257-258. Oxford University Press (OUP), doi:10.1093/mind/lx.238.257. Accessed 28 Mar 2020.

Wrenn, Chase B. "Naturalistic Epistemology". The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2018.