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Single Idea 364

[from 'Phaedo' by Plato, in 16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 1. Identity and the Self ]

Full Idea

Is one soul, even minutely, more or less of a soul than another? Not in the least.

Clarification

'Soul' is the Greek word 'psuché', which covers mind and consciousness and life

Gist of Idea

One soul can't be more or less of a soul than another

Source

Plato (Phaedo [c.382 BCE], 093b)

Book Reference

Plato: 'The Last Days of Socrates', ed/tr. Tredennick,Hugh [Penguin 1969], p.149


A Reaction

This idea is attractive because unconsciousness and death seem to be abrupt procedures, and so appear to be all-or-nothing, but I would personally view extreme Alzheimer's as an erasing of the soul, though a minimum level of it seems all-or-nothing.