Work · Ancient Greek
Phaedo
Socrates' last day: proofs of the immortality of the soul and the theory of Forms.
Introduction
Phaedo, one of Socrates’ circle, tells the story of the last hours in prison to Echecrates; Plato himself, the text says, was absent through illness. Socrates explains why a philosopher need not fear death and offers several arguments for the immortality of the soul, among them the argument from recollection and a final proof based on the Forms. His Theban friends Simmias and Cebes raise objections, for example that the soul might be like the attunement of a lyre, which perishes with the instrument. The dialogue ends with Socrates drinking the hemlock. It is a central text for Plato’s theory of Forms and for Western ideas of the soul.
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Connections
Taken up in
- Platonic Theology1482 · Marsilio Ficino
- Phaedon, or On the Immortality of the Soul1767 · Moses Mendelssohn
Criticized in
- On the Soul (De anima)c. 350 BCE · Aristotle
- Metaphysicsc. 340 BCE · Aristotle
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