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Chapter 1 - The Soul and the Celestial Afterlife in Greek Philosophy before Plato

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2021

By
Simon Trépanier
Edited by
A. G. Long
A. G. Long
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
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Summary

This study examines the evidence for the celestial afterlife in Greek philosophy before Plato. Starting from Plato’s Phaedo myth, where we find evidence for three levels of life for souls (our level, the ‘aithêr-dwellers’ above us, and, above that, a more mysterious third level), it argues that such a stratified cosmos was not original to Plato, but can be found in certain of his predecessors. The two best-documented instances of it occur in Heraclitus and the new, Strasbourg papyrus of Empedocles. Both thinkers, in attempting to frame the place of soul in the order of nature, also adopt a stratified, hierarchical cosmic scheme, with rewards and demotions along the vertical axis. But they also thereby take up positions on the nature of soul: What stuff is it made of? Is it (essentially) immortal or not? And if not, can its immortality be secured? Against Plato’s later doctrine of an essentially immortal soul, both conceive of soul as somehow physical and, for different reasons, appear to deny its full or essential immortality.

Keywords

soulimmortalitymythafterlifegodsHeraclitusEmpedoclesPlatoHadesreincarnation
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Immortality in Ancient Philosophy , pp. 12 - 40
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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