Abstract

The idea that the soul or mind is something quite separate from the body has a long pedigree in philosophy, as is the related idea that when people die their souls continue to exist in a separate state. Both notions received a classical expression in Plato’s Phaedo, which did not only raise the possibility of such a disembodied future state but also included a priori arguments for believing in it. The most influential of these is the argument that since souls are indivisible they are indestructible and so must survive the destruction of the bodies to which they are attached.