The Immortal Soul: Ideas of Socrates, Plato &

Augustine
Further Research
1. One of the key elements separating Socrates and Plato from Augustine is the element of
Christianity. For the Ancient Greek philosophers, the underlying belief behind all philosophies is a
belief in a pantheon of gods and goddesses. Augustine lived centuries later after the advent of
mainstream Christianity. How does this difference relate to their ideas about the soul and its fate
after death? Look up the Gnostic Gospels and you will find some evidence of a belief in
reincarnation in early Christian thought.
2. In this lesson, you read about the concept of dualism as it applies to views about the body and
soul. What other ideas are there about where our spirit, or the part that isn't physical, resides? Some
terms to research for this information are monism, materialism, and idealism.
3. Part of Plato's concept of dualism is related to his teachings about the difference between what
we see in the physical world and what really exists. Read Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" or read
about it online. How does this idea connect to dualism regarding the existence of the soul.
4. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion that believes in reincarnation, or the transmigration of the soul.
Read about the Hindu faith and their beliefs about the nature of the soul. Do you think that a
polytheistic tradition like Hinduism or the Ancient Greek pantheon lends itself more readily to a
dualistic view of the soul?

Possible Responses
1. Christianity is basically monistic in the view of the soul. In other words, the soul and the body are
united and what the body does in life affects the soul after death. For the Gnostic Gospels, The
Gospel of Thomas is a good source, as is The Secret Teachings of Jesus.
2. Monism: the soul and body are one
Idealism: the mind and spirit are the real person
Materialism: the physical body is the real person
3. Plato's Allegory of the Cave appears in the text called Republic. The connection to dualism is the
separation between the real and the physical.
4. Polytheistic faiths generally have some belief based in dualism. For example, in Hinduism, the
body is temporary while the soul is eternal and must experience several physical lives. Monotheistic
faiths like Christianity can support dualism, with the caveat that there is only one physical life and the
actions of the body affect the fate of the soul.

Dualism
Starting things off on a rather morbid note, we are all going to die. Regardless of status, gender, or
beliefs, one day each of us will cease to exist as we do today. For this reason, the question that's
been keeping philosophers busy for thousands of years is not death. Instead it's, 'is there a soul that
sticks around once the body has checked out?' To delve into this query let's take a look at Socrates',
Plato's, and Augustine's views of the immortal soul.
For starters, all three of these guys held to dualism. Stated pretty simply, dualism is the belief that
reality or existence is divided into two parts. When speaking of humanity, these two parts are usually
identified as the body and the soul. Today, we'll focus on the soul.
When speaking of the soul, dualists see it as a real substance that exists independent from the
body. Unlike our bodies, which are subject to decay, the soul is not subject to natural law. For many
dualists, the soul is what separates us from animals. It's the seat of human consciousness. It's our
intellect, our will, and our emotion.

Socrates
Keeping this dualistic base in mind, let's take a look at our three philosophers. Being the earliest of
the three, we'll start with Socrates. Admittedly, much of what we know about Socrates is conjecture.
Keeping our summary of his views rather general, he believed the soul is immortal. For this reason,
he asserted that death is not the end of existence. Death is simply the separation of the soul from
the body.

Plato
As a supposed student of Socrates, Plato agreed that the soul is immortal and separate from the
body. However, he upped the ante a bit. He believed the soul was eternal. According to Plato, the
soul doesn't come into existence with the body; it exists prior to being joined to the body.
Sounding a whole bunch like reincarnation, Plato believed the soul exists within a body until that
body dies. It then sets up house in another body. For this reason, Plato called the body the prison of
the soul.

Augustine
As our last dualistic thinker of the day, Augustine also believed the soul to be immortal. However,
he believed the soul AND the body make up a human. The body isn't just a prison for a soul that
jumps from body to body. Instead, one body and one soul make up one person. Yes, he agreed that
the soul is immortal, he just didn't buy into the idea that it hops from body to body.

Yes, I do agree with John Locke. According to him, personal identity is made of sameness of
consciousness, that even if you loss a part of your body, so long as your conscious awareness and
your memory of experiences are still intact, it is still you. I, myself, easily forget things, for instance,
you shared me a secret of yours long long ago, your secret is safe with me because I already forgot
what you have shared to me, but if you remind me of what you have shared or at least say a key
words about it, I could recall it again. Since, I have recall my memory with the help of reminding me
about it, I could say that I am still me, that I am still that person whom you shared your secret with.
So, what happened to my existence in those time that I did forgot what you shared to me? Of
course, I am still me, though I did forgot those specific words you said to me, I could still remember it
by, for example, I saw or experience something that reminded me of you or what you shared to me
have recall my memories because of that sameness of experience. Therefore, I am still me, that my
memory still exist, so long as I feel the same experience, the same consciousness.

There is No Self: David Hume

Perceptions, the thing that you are feeling. The senses you are experiencing.
You wouldn’t know anything or having any thought or concept about it if you didn’t experience it
personally.
Enduring self - a soft that is that is consistent and constant.
May experience ka ba before about yourself that does not change? No - Hume because it will not
feel the same. Walang enduring self, no consistent self. Illusions. All throughout of your lives, you
have different experiences, but there are gaps in between, its because of this changes, so wala kang
sarili because it does not connect. Wala kang constant or consistent self that start from the very first
you were born up until today. Wala kang concept self because there are gaps in between that
changes. He is trying to locate saan dito yung self
Kant
Yes, pabagobago tayo. Those experience made who we are today, kasi si self yung nag connect ng
mga experience na yun that define us today. It does not need to be consistent. Kung sino ka ngayon
is because of your experiences in your past. Hindi siya hinahanap (self), your experiences yourself
define who u are.
Do u agree with hume that if we look at what is happening in our minds (self), we will not be able to
find permanent self?
I do not agree with Hume that, looking at what is happening in our minds or finding our
selves in the experiences we have experienced means that, we will not be able to find
permanent self. I do not agree with this, because I believe that hindi hinahanap ang self. It’s
okay if you want to find out more about yourself, but looking for what they call “permanent
self”, I don’t think so. There is no exact location of our selves. I also believe that, self doesn’t
need to be constant/consistent for it to be called “self”, because people change from time to
time, and it doesn’t mean that there is no self just because you change everyday.
How will you respond when somebody tells you “please don’t change”
Changing my self, doesn’t mean that I will change completely, like, even recognizing me, you
wouldn’t be able to, no, if ever I will change, I will still be the person you knew. I will still
interact or treat you the way I am treating you, but in a better version of myself. Having a
constant/consistent self is a hard thing to do. We change our attitude/mood swings because
of a particular reasons/feelings, our likes changed maybe because of the trends, our hates,
skincare routine, favorite food, favorite movie, etc.. We change from time to time, so telling
me not to change will be a difficult favor.