Socratic dialogue concerning the immortality of the soul
This article is about the Platonic dialogue. For people with this given name, see Phaedon (name).
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Phædo or Phaedo (/ˈfiːdoʊ/; Greek: Φαίδων, Phaidōn[pʰaídɔːn]), also known to ancient readers as On The Soul,[1] is one of the best-known dialogues of Plato's middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. The philosophical subject of the dialogue is the immortality of the soul. It is set in the last hours prior to the death of Socrates, and is Plato's fourth and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days, following Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito.
One of the main themes in the Phaedo is the idea that the soul is immortal. In the dialogue, Socrates discusses the nature of the afterlife on his last day before being executed by drinking hemlock. Socrates has been imprisoned and sentenced to death by an Athenian jury for not believing in the gods of the state (though some scholars think it was more for his support of "philosopher kings" as opposed to democracy)[2] and for corrupting the youth of the city.
By engaging in dialectic with a group of Socrates's friends, including the two Thebans, Cebes, and Simmias, Socrates explores various arguments for the soul's immortality in order to show that there is an afterlife in which the soul will dwell following death and, for couples and good people, be more at one with "every loving thing" and be more powerful than the Greek gods.[3] Phaedo tells the story that following the discussion, he and the others were there to witness the death of Socrates.
The Phaedo was first translated into Latin from Greek by Apuleius[4] but no copy survived, so Henry Aristippus produced a new translation in 1160.
^Lorenz, Hendrik (22 April 2009). "Ancient Theories of Soul". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
^I. F. Stone is among those who adopt a political view of the trial. See the transcript of an interview given by Stone here: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/socrates/ifstoneinterview.html. For ancient authority, Stone cites Aeschines (Against Timarchus 173).
^Duerlinger, James (1985). "Ethics and the Divine Life in Plato's Philosophy". The Journal of Religious Ethics. 13 (2). Blackwell Publishing Ltd: 322, 325, 329. ISSN 0384-9694. JSTOR 40015016 – via JSTOR.
^Fletcher R., Platonizing Latin: Apuleius’s Phaedo in G. Williams and K. Volk, eds.,Roman Reflections: Studies in Latin Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2015, p. 238–59
Phædo or Phaedo (/ˈfiːdoʊ/; Greek: Φαίδων, Phaidōn [pʰaídɔːn]), also known to ancient readers as On The Soul, is one of the best-known dialogues of Plato's...
Phaedo of Elis (/ˈfiːdoʊ/; also, Phaedon; Greek: Φαίδων ὁ Ἠλεῖος, gen.: Φαίδωνος; fl. 4th century BCE) was a Greek philosopher. A native of Elis, he was...
this case the story of the execution of Socrates as told by Plato in his Phaedo. In this story, Socrates has been convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens...
original texts related to this article: Euthyphro Apology (Plato) Crito Phaedo The extant, primary sources about the history of the trial and execution...
philosophy was originally the School of Elis, where it had been founded by Phaedo of Elis; it was later transferred to Eretria by his pupil Menedemus. It...
for the name of the first-born son. Plato's portrayal of Xanthippe in the Phaedo suggests that she was a devoted wife and mother; this is the sole mention...
dialogues Phaedo, Republic and Phaedrus, poetic language to illustrate the mode in which the Forms are said to exist. Near the end of the Phaedo, for example...
See this brief exchange from the Phaedo: "What is it that, when present in a body, makes it living? – A soul." Phaedo 105c. Plato, Timaeus 44d Archived...
interested in natural philosophy, which conforms to Plato's depiction of him in Phaedo. What is certain is that by the age of 45, Socrates had already captured...
Pythagoras. The Forms are typically described in dialogues such as the Phaedo, Symposium and Republic as perfect archetypes of which objects in the everyday...
ancient Greek name that may refer to: Phaedo of Elis, philosopher Phaedo, one of Plato's dialogues named after Phaedo of Elis who appears in it Phaidon Press...
ISBN 978-1-4549-0908-8. Plato (1909). "Phædo (Dialogues of Plato)". In Charles W. Eliot (ed.). The Apology, Phædo and Crito of Plato – The Golden Sayings...
on Crito's level of reflection. The crucial point for Socrates is in the Phaedo dialogue rather than Crito. Socrates in Crito avoids using the word "soul" –...
his work Philosophia rationalis, sive logica (1728). In Plato's dialogue Phaedo, Socrates argues that true explanations for any given physical phenomenon...
all turned out to be unremarkable "fools and dullards". Plato, Apology 34d, Phaedo 116b. Plato, Phaedo, 60a. Aristotle. Rhetoric, Book 2 Chapter 15 [1]....
connotation of the thyrsus, and thereby Dionysus, in his philosophical Phaedo: I conceive that the founders of the mysteries had a real meaning and were...
Plato's Phaedo dialogue as an aid to the plot. He meets Phaedo, the dialogue's namesake, some time after the execution of Socrates, and asks Phaedo to tell...
in Plato's dialogue Phaedo which takes its name from him, and later became a major philosopher in his own right. The case of Phaedo got special attention...
useful purpose. Greek text at Perseus Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus. Greek with translation by Harold N. Fowler. Loeb Classical Library...
and dwell with the prisoners, sharing in their labors and honors. Plato's Phaedo contains similar imagery to that of the allegory of the cave; a philosopher...
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