As mentioned in Phaeno, Socrates is gathered around all his friends and starts to ask them questions about death and he mentions how suicide is wrong. Also, he argues that the soul is immortal in different ideologies. He explains the Argument from Opposites or the Cyclical argument which states that we all exist exactly the opposite of what we were in life.This means that there is a never ending cycle of life and death, so that when we die we do not stay dead, but come back to life after a period of time.Therefore, the souls of the living come from the dead.
Then, he mentions the Theory of Recollection which means that at birth humans have knowledge from past existence of our life.Therefore, the goal in this life to restore the knowledge that was already learned in our past. I disagree with that idea because if we did have this kind of knowledge or can remember any if it, then we wouldn’t have as many questions about our life.In other words, I believe that many things are challenging in life and that if we had experienced any of it before, we should be able to recall it when faced with a difficult situation.
Furthermore, the Affinity Argument explains the soul’s relationship to the body. The soul is invisible and immortal however, the body is visible and mortal. Therefore, our physical bodies will die and decay while our soul will continue to live. After that, Simmias and Cebes disagree with each other that perhaps the soul is like the harmony of a musical instrument. In other words, harmony is present only if the instrument exists. As a result of that, Cebes agrees that perhaps the soul can live more than many bodies, but still believes that this does not prove the soul is immortal.
Additionally, he mentions the Argument from Form of Life which argues that ideas are the cause of everything in the world and represent the most accurate version of reality. The soul can never die. The study of ideas is the only true way to gain knowledge. The Form of Life is an essential property of the soul, Socrates suggests, it is inconceivable to think of the soul as ever being anything but alive.
In The Resurraction of Death, Davis mentions how the soul would continue to be conscious after it exists the body with less abilities and properties. I agree with his statement because if the soul wouldn’t be in control of the body once it exists.Also, he believes that the body would be raised and reunited with the soul. I also agree with this claim because the soul would eventually reunite with the body.Moreover, he mentions that, one’s current body will be transformed into a new type of body that has some new properties. He is against the idea of disembodied existence which refers to life after death without a body. He explains that you can’t just imagine some of the possible ideas because only God is capable of making that creature. Moreover, the objection is that it’s difficult to believe that God would create an identical person to pervent someone’s death. The further response isthat perhaps personal identity is what separates two identical people.
According to Life is Absurd, Camus suggests that life is meaningless and that when humans try to find meaning its absurd. However, I disagree because life has meaning because it’s the reason why most people accomplish and achieve their goals.He mentions, “There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicidthe He believes that its a response to the absurd. Also, he believes its when someone confesses that life is not worth living. Furthermore, he believes that containing there’s meaning is self delusion and that what matters is the quantity of living and striving for awareness about life. Also, Camus mentions how Sisyphus was punished by the gods for imprisoning death.The gods put a stop to this and as a punishment, he was cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down again every time and had to repeat this for eternity.Sisyphus was willingly able to push the boulder up the mountain every time it rolls down which ultimately made Camus see him as the absurd hero that lives life to the fullest with a meaningless task.I think he believes that no matter how absurd meaningless life is we should be honest and confront the truth and not let it destroy us.
According to Confessions, Augustine states, “If you want to be perfect follow the lord and join those whom he declares his wisdom.” In other words, God exists, therefore the purpose of life involves knowing God and living in conformity with the character and example of Christ. Also, he mentions that If we are available to knowing truth, and we look for after God, God will enlighten our brains and satisfy our most prominent longings. Furthermore, he says, “You grant the desires of those who seek you.” In conclusion, we can’t satisfy this essentially all alone; we should perceive our requirement for God.
In Pensees, Pascal argues that a man that doesn’t believe in God is miserable and one that does believe God is the most reasonable party.This argument was made to show that we can bet in our lives that God exists for our own external benefit if we’re right and lose nothing if we’re wrong. Therefore, he mentions that we need a loving God that will help us get out of our miserable condition.
Finally, according to The Absurdity of Life without God, Craig mentions,“ For if there is no God man is absurd.” In other words, if there’s no God then a person’s life is meaningless. Also, he explains that with no hope of immortality, a man’s life leads only to the grave which means that it doesn’t have any purpose.In conclusion, the two conditions that Craig argues must be met in order for there to be ultimate significance is a God and immortality.I agree with this argument because we really need a God superior than us in order to feel any meaning to life.
