Immortality of the soul in Plato's Phaedo

Immortality of the soul in Plato's Phaedo

In Plato’s dialogue Phaedo, Socrates discusses the nature of the afterlife. To individuals, the term, “Immortality” has been defined as an endless life or existence. Plato sees this idea of immortality of the soul, as one that needs to become accepted by all individuals. Concurrent with Plato’s belief, Socrates explores the fourth argument in the Phaedo: the forms, representing the cause of all things in the world, the cause of life that can never be dead.   Socrates argues that the soul is immortal and that one must rise above one’s physical nature in order to gain true knowledge.
In the Phaedo, immortality is a subject of interest to Socrates, because this discussion takes place on his last day in prison, before the execution. Socrates does not fear death, because he strongly believes in faith, of immortality. Thus, Socrates wants to convince others to believe in immortality as well.
        Socrates starts describing the nature of the soul by separating it from the body. Socrates explains that in order to truly perceive that which is true, one must separate the soul from the body. He states:
“And indeed the soul reasons best when none of these senses troubles it, neither hearing nor sight, nor pain nor pleasure, but when it is most by itself, taking leave of the body and as far as possible having no contact wit it in its search for reality”(Plato,14).
In this quote, Socrates explains that the body and the senses only distort the soul’s perception of reality. In order to truly understand reality, one must transcend the body and the senses. However, ones senses can be misleading. Socrates states, “the body confuses the soul and does not allow it to acquire truth and wisdom” (Plato, 14). For example, one might see something that looks like a plant, but it does not mean that it is a plant. A plant is a living thing. One might simply mistake a plant, for an imitation of the real thing. Thus, In order to acquire true knowledge, one must...