Phaedo.
Now I propose to determine what things, without
being the opposites of something, nevertheless refuse to admit it, as the number
three, though it is not the opposite of the idea of even, nevertheless refuses
to admit it, but always brings forward its opposite against it, and
as the number two
brings forward the opposite of the odd and fire that of cold, and so forth, for
there are plenty of examples. Now see if you accept this statement: not only
will opposites not admit their opposites, but nothing which brings an opposite
to that which it approaches will ever admit in itself the oppositeness of that
which is brought. Now let me refresh your memory; for there is no harm in
repetition. The number five will not admit the idea of the even, nor will ten,
the double of five, admit the idea of the odd. Now ten is not itself an
opposite, and yet it will not admit the idea of the odd;
and so one-and-a-half and other mixed fractions and
one-third and other simple fractions reject the idea of the whole. Do you go
with me and agree to this?
Yes, I
agree entirely,
he said, and am with you.
Then,
said Socrates, please begin again at
the beginning. And do not answer my questions in their own words, but do as I
do. I give an answer beyond that safe answer which I spoke of at first, now that
I see another safe reply deduced from what has just been said. If you ask me
what causes anything in which it is to be hot, I will not give
you that safe but stupid answer and say that it is
heat, but I can now give a more refined answer, that it is fire; and if you ask,
what causes the body in which it is to be ill, I shall not say illness, but
fever; and if you ask what causes a number in which it is to be odd, I shall not
say oddness, but the number one, and so forth. Do you understand sufficiently
what I mean?
Quite
sufficiently,
he replied.Now
answer,
said he. What causes the body in which it is to be
alive?
The soul,
he
replied.
Is this always the
case?
Yes,
said he,
of course.
Then if the soul
takes possession of anything it always brings life to it?
Certainly,
he said.Is there anything that is the opposite of
life?
Yes,
said
he.What?
Death.
Now
the soul, as we have agreed before, will never admit the opposite of that which
it brings with it.
Decidedly
not,
said Cebes.Then what do we now
call that which does not admit the idea of the even?
Uneven,
said he.And those which do not admit justice and music?
Unjust,
he replied, and
unmusical.
Well then what do we
call that which does not admit death?
Deathless or immortal,
he said.And the soul does not admit death?
No.
Then the soul is
immortal.
Yes.
Very well,
said he. Shall we say
then that this is proved?
Yes, and
very satisfactorily, Socrates.