Plato’s Theory of Immortality (A History of Western Philosophy)

Plato argues that anything that distracts man from the pursuit of the vision of truth and philosophy should be avoided, and this includes the pleasures of the senses. With each instance of pleasure and pain, the soul becomes more closely identified with the body, until there is no longer any separation.

Man becomes a purely sensual animal. But the problem with Plato’s argument is that it does not consider that the greatest dangers of man are not from the senses, but from the mind. Take for instance, envy and greed – these come man’s ideas about the world. In other words, a life devoid of sensual experience is not guaranteed to lead to virtue

YARPP List

Related posts:

1. The Theory of Ideas (A History of Western Philosophy)
2. The Sources of Plato’s Opinions (A History of Western Philosophy)
3. Ancient Philosophy (A History of Western Philosophy)
4. Stoicism (A History of Western Philosophy)