Plato's _Phaedo_ Discussion - Dissertation Example

Plato’s Phaedo Discussion In Phaedo, Plato presented philosophies about the body and the soul. According to him, the soulis immortal and indestructible while the body is mortal and perishable. The immortality of the soul based on his views can be considered as the reason for the innate knowledge that people have even without being taught which is referred to as anamnesis or the precious knowledge of everything. He viewed the soul as the entity that continuously learns and acquires knowledge through different lifetimes.

The body on the other hand, is the form that holds and shelters the soul through a single lifetime. What is the main philosophy being taught in Plato’s Phaedo? Through the dialogue of Phaedo, Plato had been able to present one of his greatest contributions to philosophy which is the perspective of dualities, wherein every concept is viewed and given reason through the opposing concept. Few examples include the body and the soul, right and wrong, darkness and light, night and day, etc. Though concepts are not delineated clearly, the view of duality is the simplest manner of philosophizing regarding the existence of different matter and concepts.

Another contribution of Plato’s Phaedo is the further discussion of the Forms, an example of which is the soul. Are Plato’s views applicable in the modern era? On a personal note, Plato’s views can be considered exceptional even in the present era. His views regarding the Forms have influence in the philosophies of the people in the present generation. The main difference though is that the immortality of the soul in the present views of people is related to religion and faith while for Plato the soul is an entity of knowledge, thus, related to science.

The view on virtue is also another example. Virtue according to Plato can only be observed in philosophers or people of knowledge since they are aware of the concept of virtue itself. He again related another concept to knowledge. In conclusion, it can be considered that Plato viewed knowledge as the central concept or idea wherein other concepts revolves around. In the present era, faith can be considered as the corresponding idea, since science is considered as purely empirical and evident-based.

In addition to the concepts discussed, what are the other views that can be gathered based on Plato’s Phaedo? How are these concepts explained in the present era?