Plato

In the Phaedo, Plato develops the idea that intangible attributes--such as beauty, justice, knowledge, and truth--are absolutes or ideals that can never be experienced in the physical world but that can only be approximated. Sense experience can never reach truth; the closest one can come to it is through the soul, which is itself accessed through the mind:

And thought is best when the mind is gathered into herself . . . not allowing when in the act of thought the intrusion or introduction of sight or any other sense in the company of reason (Plato).

As Spelman explains, Plato's attitude toward the body is that it interferes with the soul's experience of the absolute. That is problematic because Plato also mentions in various dialogues that women are preoccupied with bodily things. The inescapable logic is that women do not have reason. That is supported in the Phaedo by the fact that Socrates has sent away the women who were crying because they do not want him to die, and a man (says he) should be ab

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Approximate Word count = 1088
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)

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