Concept of the Soul & the Afterlife

Socrates argues in the Phaedo that the soul existed before the individual was born. Basing his view on the argument that "Learning is actually nothing but recollection," Socrates concludes that "our souls did exist earlier . . . before entering human form, apart from bodies; and they possessed wisdom" (Plato 21;26).

Socrates' argument is basically that a human being has a certain inherent sense about the reality of the world, and especially about how objects compare with one another, which cannot be gained at birth, and, therefore, this knowledge and wisdom was present before birth, before the body was created, and, therefore, the soul must exist as a depository of this knowledge and wisdom.

Socrates' argument convinces Simmias and Cebes, but it is an argument which cannot be proved. The infant cannot be seen to have knowledge or wisdom at birth, and that which it shows later could easily have been learned after birth. Socrates' audience yields to his arguments too easily, as Plato controls their words and asse

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ion in reason and that reason leaves us without incentive or consolation in life and life itself without real finality (Unamuno 106). Does this mean that Unamuno has no hope for knowledge or experience of the soul, or its essence, or immortality? No, it does not. Instead of building up a proof of the soul by a step-by-step process in reason and argument, as does Socrates, Unamuno faces head-on the terrible failure of reason and begins from there to build his faith: Scepticism, uncertainty -- the position to which reason . . . at last arrives -- is the foundation upon which the heart's despair must build up its hope (Unamuno 106). Unamuno is basically rejecting the view that reason can give "consolation" to human beings by "pretending to prove" that which it cannot prove: "Reason lives by formulas; but life, which cannot be formulated, life which lives and seeks to live for ever, does not submit to formulas." It is "feeling" rather than reason that Unamuno refers to for guidance, and, he says, "Feeling does not compound its differences with middle terms." Feeling seeks "all or nothing" (Unamuno 107). Unamuno leaves no doubt about his view of the role of the reason is finding out the truth of the soul and immortal
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2670
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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