Knowledge Needs a Pure Soul

True Knowledge needs a Pure Soul

A man or women must gain true knowledge through the purification of the soul. When true purity is obtained then and only then is a person able to clearly think without distraction. In the Phaedo, Plato’s Socrates believes you can only obtain true knowledge with a clear mind, which can only be had with true purity of the soul. The soul to become pure must detach it’s self from the body so that it is not poisoned by the choices made by its emotions and senses. The body is a distraction and clouds the mind from seeing the full knowledge when senses become involved in the process of learning.

The soul must first release its self from bodily wants and needs to gain clarity. The body is an evil to the soul and will keep polluting so that the soul cannot escape to purity. The body is a jail for the soul who will continue to stay in the body until it does not comply with the emotions contained within the body. When the soul gives into the body it becomes visible showing that it has made physical mistakes (Bedu-Addo, p. 37). To stay invisible the soul must not allow the body to convince it to think through the senses that are attached through the body. The clarity through sight, smell, and touch is not very clear at all and must be avoided. Socrates also believes that the simplest of creatures are the happiest in the end. A soul who is inside of a bee or a wasp will have a much simpler and overall enjoyable life than that of a wolf or horse (Plato, Phaedo, p.3). He believed that this could be transferred to the human race as well and that those who ever can live a simpler less extravagant life style will be rewarded in the end. The simplicity of a creature’s life will allow them to be less emotionally involved with the distractions of life, so that their soul is able to move on afterwards in a state of complete purity (Plato, Phaedo, p.3). The goal of the soul is to stay simple and reserved from the body, to obtain true happiness...