9. Plato, Part IV: Arguments for the immortality of the soul (cont.)

Death (PHIL 176)

Professor Kagan elaborates on the "argument from simplicity" and discusses in detail Plato's claims that the soul is simple, changeless and therefore indestructible. The final Platonic argument under discussion is the "argument from essential properties" in which the essential properties of the soul are addressed. At the end of the lecture the question of whether one needs to argue for physicalism is posed.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Assumptions Made in the Argument from Simplicity
05:56 - Chapter 2. Plato's Defense against the Harmony Analogy
19:42 - Chapter 3. Essential and Contingent Properties and the Argument from Essential Properties
37:06 - Chapter 4. Kagan: "There is No Good Reason to Believe in Souls"
47:53 - Chapter 5. Qualifications and Conclusion

Complete course materials are available at the Yale Online website: online.yale.edu

This course was recorded in Spring 2007.