plato vs. descartes
Compare the arguments for the distinctness of body and soul [or ‘psyche’] in Plato’s Phaedo with Descartes’ arguments for the distinctness of body and mind [in the Meditations and elsewhere]After reading Plato’s Phaedo, we can see that there are many differences between the body and soul. Plato outlines these in some of the arguments given by Socrates. The first time the differences are brought to our attention, is when Plato talks about how a true philosopher would welcome death instead of being afraid of it. His reasoning for this is that a true philosopher who ‘applies himself in the right way’ will not be concerned with worldly, material matters and would rather use his soul to understand and reflect. He tries to disconnect himself from his body in order to be free from bodily distractions. There can be no certainty with bodily sensations; they cannot be trusted to be reliable. The truest perception of the real nature of any given thing can only be discerned by the soul and its own investigations rather than by any bodily perception. Therefore in this way the body is distinct from the soul. It is only with the explorations of the soul itself that man can discover the true nature of a given thing. If he were to use bodily
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Descartes Meditation, Cycle Opposites, Platos Phaedo, Descartes Meditations, Equality Beauty, Form Life, Phaedo Descartes, body soul, , evil genius, Form Beauty, continuity wax, mental realm, material realm, soul soul, Theory Recollection, body distinct soul, bodily experience, indubitable truth, doubts descartes, realm material realm, realm material, continuity wax established, mind evil genius, difference body soul,
Approximate Word count = 1912
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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