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Socrates's Ability For Recollection

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Socrates's Ability For Recollection
It is mistaken that death is evil. The questions that people have asked themselves for thousands of years about the soul being mortal, or immortal still continues today. Socrates, an ancient Greek philosopher, had his arguments that death is not an evil, but a new beginning. Eventually, Socrates was sentenced to death by Hemlock, after a synonymous vote of the jury. Some philosophers think that what Socrates said to his defense only got himself deeper into trouble, but some think Socrates rightfully induced his punishment and lived on after his death. However, that is not the importance of this essay, it is to prove that the soul is immortal without reference to divine revelation.
According to Socrates, one mistakes death to be an evil. Why
…show more content…
Because immortal things are not composed of physical parts, they cannot break apart and die. Socrates claims that the soul is more like these things than it is like corporeal things. If knowledge of equal is recollection, then the soul must have existed before its embodiment.
The soul resembles the divine, and the body resembles the mortal being, so it is expected that the soul is everlasting. McInerny also writes how humans create unmanageable diversity. This means that every being has standard cognitive equipment inside of them. Furthermore, McInerny explains how this relates to Plato and Aristotle about the the capacity to know more; getting to know Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. McInerny’s point validates how the soul is immortal, since humans will not know the true Forms until after death.
Whether the souls of humans are immortal or destructible, we have to understand the definition of death itself. According to Socrates, death is the separation of the soul from the body. The soul is a fundamental form of life and the opposite form of life is the form of death. So, it is not possible for the soul to be in the form of death and hence the soul cannot die making it

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