PHIL 2010H Lecture 23: PhilosophyNotesMarch29
2 May 2017
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Philosophers seek knowledge of the forms--- for example, god itself, beauty itself--- which are true reality, but are not accessible to the bodily senses. Knowledge of the forms (true reality) must, then, be obtained by reason, not the senses. The body is a hindrance to reasoning by the soul/mind because the bodily senses are unreliable and other bodily phenomena like emotions and desires are distracting. Philosophers must, then, be concerned with their souls, not their bodies, and seek to separate ( purify ) their souls as much as possible from their bodily senses. Death is the complete separation of the soul from the body. Conclusion: so philosophy is training for death, and philosophers have no reason to fear it. Things come to be from their opposites--- for example, swift from slow, short from tall, cold from hot. For every pair of opposites, there is a corresponding pair of processes, connecting them in a cycle (heating up, cooling down, etc).
