"The Phaedo"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Plato's "The Phaedo" and argues that Socrates gives three compelling reasons why the study of philosophy is valuable in itself. The paper outlines these three reasons as follows: it clarifies what we know, it provides guidelines of inquiry for what we seek to know and it allows an individual to cultivate wisdom, the highest of virtues.

From the Paper:

"In The Phaedo, Plato has Socrates discuss a number of philosophically important issues. Among them, Socrates forwards an account of being, an account of learning and knowledge, and an account of value; namely, the value of studying philosophy. Notwithstanding a person's agreement with any of the doctrines that Plato describes (i.e. the theory of the Forms, the theory of recollection, and the ethical value theory of learning philosophy), it can be shown that Plato's philosophy is a perfect example of the transcendent value that philosophy possesses. The theories he propounds demonstrate how philosophy helps to clarify what we know and what is valuable; it is also instrumental in successfully discovering and/or inventing rational standards by which we may adjudicate various factual and ethical claims. Finally, it is the archetypal method for cultivating wisdom, unarguably a good in itself. In the process of exploring each of these claims, this essay will argue that philosophy is fundamental to understanding life (and death), and how one should live and die. In other words, the study of philosophy has value in and of itself."

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