The concept of immortality is among the most debated ideas in philosophy and beliefs. Several thinkers have expressed their understanding of death, life, and the soul, and the different forms in which the human body exists. While some hold that the human life ends after death, Plato presents several arguments demonstrating that human beings continue living after their physical death as their souls assume an invisible form that cannot die nor be destroyed ( Gertz, 2011) . Plato presents six major arguments supporting the idea that human life is immortal, and they include discussions from recollection, the opposites, recycling, simplicity or affinity, essential attributes, and the nature of forms. This paper examines the different arguments that Plato presented concerning immortality as well as an analysis of their viability in the understanding of the concept.
First, the argument from the opposites is derived from the ideas of the law of compensation and the rule of alteration. The case holds that creating something that has it's opposite uses the opposite in the creation process ( Plato, 1854) . For instance, something that is bigger was initially smaller. Further, the argument maintains that creation processes are always linked to the opposites; for example, more significant and smaller are always related to decreases and increases. From this perspective, Plato argues that living emanates from death. To a great extent, Plato’s argument in defending immortality is viable since life and death are two contradictory states, which cannot exist together, but they can take either form; meaning, life change into death and death can result in life, similar to the way in which an object can be increased or decreased in size.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Second, the argument from recollection emanates from the assumption that the soul existed before the formation of the physical human body. The assumption further holds that the soul possessed real knowledge and was accompanied by forms before its formation into a body. Plato argues that the soul loses its understanding of the forms when it assumes the physical human body and gets trapped in imperfections, opinions, and perceptions ( Plato, 1854) . However, if the soul encounters the forms that it had previous knowledge about, as in the case of mathematics, it can remember or recollect the actual experience. The argument maintains that human beings demonstrate knowledge about different forms, including perfect numbers, equality, and roundness among others.
According to Plato, one has to have an idea of perfection to understand what it is. Further, the fact that imperfections belong to the world demonstrates that forms are not in or of the world, which also illustrates that the knowledge of structures already exists before one comes into existence in the world ( Plato, 1854) . Hence, the argument indicates that the soul, which bears the knowledge of perfection, pre-exists, and is, therefore, the soul is immortal. The discussion indicates that before coming to the world, one already possesses some knowledge of things that cannot be found in the world. Such knowledge proves human existence before birth, which further indicates the element of immortality through the existence of the soul.
Thirdly, the argument from recycling emanates for the element of everyday correlation of things. Based on the human observation of the world, it is clear that things are in the form of parts; before anything can exist, different parts must be joined together. Similarly, when something is destroyed, some of its parts continue existing. For instance, if a car is destroyed in a road accident, its parts, including the engine, tires, steering wheel, and the door may remain intact ( Gertz, 2011) . Plato uses a similar approach to explain the immortality of the human body; he considers the soul as one part of the human body, whereby it is the non-physical substance that comes together with the physical human substance to form a human being. Hence, given that parts of a thing can survive after it is destroyed; the soul is also capable of surviving and continue living once the physical human body dies.
The fourth argument, infinity or simplicity emanates from the nature of objects that are likely to change or get destroyed. The fact that the soul is invisible and incomposite; these characteristics make the soul indestructible. From Plato’s view, only things that are prone to change can be destroyed, while only composite things are destructible ( Plato, 1854) . Therefore, since the soul is invisible, whereby things that cannot be seen are not destructible and immune to change, it cannot be destroyed and hence continues living once the physical body dies. Pluto's argument, in this case, is viable in that something that is immortal cannot be damaged; therefore, the invisible character of the soul, which is a crucial part in the human life, makes it not easily destroyed and hence it remains immortal.
Plato also proves the idea of immortality from the perspective of essential properties that an object must possess for as long as it lives or exists. For instance, heat is a crucial characteristic of fire, and in its absence, fire cannot exist. From this perspective, Plato argues that life is a crucial part of the soul; hence the soul cannot be destroyed or die as it would indicate the end of life. Moreover, Plato explains immortality from the idea of the nature of forms, which emanates from the epistemological pre-supposition, which holds that likes can only be identified by the likes ( Gertz, 2011) . In his argument, Plato indicates that the human knowledge of forms that possess non-physical qualities and which are eternal affirms the idea that the human soul is non-physical and eternal. The argument is similar to that of recollection, in that it maintains that the soul is immortal since the human mind is capable of grasping ideas and forms that are non-physical or eternal.
In conclusion, Plato’s arguments demonstrate that although the human body perishes once a person dies; the soul continues to live since it cannot be destroyed. Although it is difficult to ascertain whether the soul exists in the first place entirely; it is logical to argue that a human body that is alive comprises of two major parts, the visible part (body) and the invisible part (soul), whereby the two parts join to become a whole (person) or separate into two distinct parts once a person dies ( Gertz, 2011) . However, unlike the physical body, which is subject to destruction by the natural forces, the soul cannot be destroyed since it cannot be seen as it exists in an invisible state, which makes human life immortal. Moreover, based on Plato’s ideas of the soul and life, the soul is the part of human life that enters the physical body to form a human being during conception; and leaves the body during death. From this perspective, Plato portrays death as the beginning of a new life, since the soul, which is inseparable from life cannot be destroyed but instead continues to live in the invisible state.
References
Gertz, S. (2011). Death and immortality in late Neoplatonism: studies on the ancient commentaries on Plato's Phaedo . Boston: Brill.
Plato. (1854). Phaedo . New York: Wm. Gowans.
