[SydPhil] Reminder: Rick Benitez, Sydney @ Wed 27 Aug 2014 15:30 - 17:00 (Seminars)

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This is a reminder for:

Title: Rick Benitez, Sydney
Like Being Nothing: Plato's Socrates on Death (Apology 40c ff)

At the end of the Apology, Plato's Socrates claims that there is reason to  
be hopeful that death is a good thing.  He then presents two versions of  
what death might be, each of which is seen as potentially good.  I  
concentrate on the first version, according to which death is "like being  
nothing".  Most scholars treat this as "non-existence", but they have a  
hard time showing how Socrates could consider that good.  I argue that the  
qualifier "like" is important, and that Socrates' two glosses of "like  
being nothing" ([1] not having any perception, and [2] like having a sleep  
with no dream) should not be treated as ways of describing non-existence.   
An alternative interpretation is suggested according to which Socrates  
supposes that death may involve ego-less, perception-less existence.  Such  
a state is similar to that attributed to the philosopher in the Phaedo,  
where very similar language to the Apology is used.  If this is a correct  
interpretation, then it has implications for how we understand views about  
immortality in ancient Greek philosophy, including how we are to understand  
mythical representations of immortality in Plato.

***Please email Professor Benitez if you would like a copy of the handout***
When: Wed 27 Aug 2014 15:30 - 17:00 Eastern Time - Melbourne, Sydney
Where: Muniment Room, Main Quad, University of Sydney
Calendar: Seminars
Who:
     * Dalia Nassar- creator

Event details:  
https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=ZWZ2NzRocWxhMzQzN2szbzhjdmVpNHZoc2sgMm1lN2M3ZnIzb21wbDRyaHZrcG1sYTUzNjhAZw

Invitation from Google Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/

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