9.5 Visual Essay - Plato and the Soul by Julius Reis

Plato's "The Republic"

juliusreis72 — 2025-03-15 09:15:50 UTC

One of Plato's most famous works

Plato's Idea of the Soul

juliusreis72 — 2025-03-15 09:20:02 UTC

According to Plato in "Phaedo", the human soul is both "immortal and imperishable". He states that the soul is essentially bound to the body in life, and if not chained down by mortal desire, will pass on to the next life after death (Phaedo 299)

Plato the Philosopher

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Plato's Mentor, Socrates

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"Socrates (469-399 B.C.E.), was put to death by the state of Athens" (Phaedo)

Plato's "Phaedo"

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Plato's "Allegory of the Cave"

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"Allegory of the Cave" by Plato and it's events

Chained Prisoners

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The prisoners in the cave are forced to see only what they can see without moving their heads, and thus are unable to change their reality

Shadows on the Wall

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The people in the cave, by limited exposure, assume that reality is only the shadows on the cave wall

Enlightenment

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After some time outside, he understands that shadows are cast by the sun, and that his entire perception of reality is wrong

Isolation

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The enlightened prisoner, despite being correct and with good intentions, is ostracized by the rest of the cave dwellers for challenging the culture

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The soul is immortal

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The soul is imperishable, unlike the body

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"The soul to rule and govern, and the body to obey and serve" unless it becomes trapped and chained within the body (Phaedo 135)

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The soul is invisible

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The soul returns to the creator if virtuous

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If weighed down by mortal limitations, the soul may reincarnate as an animal that embodies those characteristics

juliusreis72 — 2025-03-15 09:31:52 UTC

The body is a reflection of the soul, in the same that that something beautiful is a reflection of the idea of true beauty. While reminiscent of it, the body itself is not the soul

Freedom

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One prisoner manages to get free of the chains, and escapes the cave to the outer world

Rejection

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When attempting to free the other prisoners from their false reality, they refuse to be swayed and would fight if forcibly removed

Return to the Cave

juliusreis72 — 2025-03-15 09:32:33 UTC

Returning to the cave in order to tell the others of what he saw, he would be unaccustomed to the darkness. Metaphorically, he can no longer go back to his old reality after enlightenment

Socrates' Company on Execution Day

juliusreis72 — 2025-03-15 09:34:23 UTC

According to Phaedo, Socrates was accompanied by "Apollodorus, Critobulus and his father Crito, Hermogenes, Epigenes, Aeschines, and Antisthenes; likewise Ctesippus of the deme of Paeania, Menexenus, and some others" (Phaedo 18)

Visage of Plato

juliusreis72 — 2025-03-15 09:34:39 UTC

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Objects or concepts are shadows of the ideal form, similarly to the body being a sort of shadow of the soul

Plato's Academy

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The Glaring Sun

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Accustomed only to the darkness of the cave, the prisoner is at first unable to look at or comprehend the outside world

Meaning

juliusreis72 — 2025-03-15 11:10:26 UTC

The general meaning of "The Allegory of the Cave" is that people and society as a whole do not take kindly to their beliefs being challenged. This is evident in the execution of Socrates by the Athenian government for going against the societal norms

Theory of Forms

juliusreis72 — 2025-03-15 11:21:04 UTC