m the soul, and the separate condition of the soul by itself when released from the body? Is death anything more than this?” (4) So death becomes the pinnacle of intellectual discovery and not the grievous end to all that is precious in life. To view something in itself by itself, with out the distractions of the body, is the only way to discover its truth. This is true for external objects such as that of a table or chair, and also true for the body and that which is considered intimately apart of our person, the itself of ourselves. That essence is the soul not the body, the intangible verses the tangible. If the body is merely a distraction to the soul and philosophical investigation, this raises the question as to what happens to the soul after it leaves the body. Does it cease to exist, and if so isn’t it a paradox as to whether there is any philosophical investigation possible at all. For if the soul where to perish the instant it left the body, the moment that pure thought is able to take place, no such thought would be possible. Plato answers this in several stages, for it is a complex issue. First of all, ultimately for death to be an occurrence that should not be feared, the soul, the essence of humanity, must be immortal. Allowing an eternity for the philosophical investigation of an object in itself by itself. Where does life originate from is the first question that must be answered, and it is answered in a discussion about opposites. The answer being that it comes from death. “And similarly if it becomes smaller, it mist be bigger, and become smaller afterwards?” (5) “What about this: if a thing becomes worse, is it not from being better, and if more just, from being ore unjust?” (6) “Are we satisfied, then that all opposites are brought about in this way – from opposites?” (7) Meaning that everything has an opposite, and it is that very opposite that brings it’s ...
