Plato's Conceptualization of the Body. Religion & Theology Essay

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Plato’s Conceptualization of the Body
Right from birth, individuals assume different psychical and physical conditions which aid in explaining the concept of the human body. The cultural states and biological process which people embody appear indefinite, explaining the different models used to describe the nature of the human body. Philosophers such as Plato and Eliot Deustch attempt to describe some of these models, establishing areas of congruence and irreconcilable differences. In some of Plato’s dialogues identified in the Phaedo document, interesting assertions emerge regarding the nature of the body and the existence of the soul. Elliot Deustch assumes a similar conception as Plato in his argument that the body is a prison-house, consistent with Plato’s discourse that it is impossible to attain pure and rational consciousness.
Plato recognizes the possibility and difficulties inherent in attaining pure and rational consciousness, an aspect which reflects Deutsche’s model of the body as a prison-house. In this sense, therefore, the body is a containment principle which regulates, differentiates, and restricts the possibility of one’s being (Deustch 6). Based on the fear that it is not possible to attain rational consciousness, the body becomes an impediment to such an achievement, a reason why Deutsche refers to it as a prison-house. Due to the struggle for freedom and the desire to know everything, the body desires to be everywhere and nowhere at any given moment. The concept resonates with Platonic and Socratic dialogue in their agreement that the soul exists before birth and after death, progressively pushing people towards evil because of the struggle to meet incessant demands (Hamiton and Cairns 55). An intricate problem between Plato and Socrates in their understanding of life is what precedes the other between life and death, tracing back to the concept of a prison-house.
Socrates believes in his argument with Cebes that living things come from the dead, but he continues to argue that death emerges from living things as well. The inability of the philosophers to agree regarding what comes from the other indicates that it is impossible to come up with pure and rational consciousness, and this entails an understanding of the human body as a prison-house. Based on Platonic dialogue, the soul exists even after death and according to Socrates; the soul exists even before birth (Hamiton and Cairns 56). The philosophers end up agreeing together with Cebes that the living come from the dead, much like the dead come from the living. Ideally, the source of life remains a mystery that people cannot comprehend fully, similar to the existence of the body and the soul. Such dilemmas conform to Deutch’s model of the body as a prison-house where the struggle to balance between pleasure and morality leads to an unending internal conflict which imprisons individuals.
Applying Deutsch’s prison-house model calls for a review of the perceptions associated with historical body despisers. Such individuals are the ascetics, holding on to the belief that the physical body is an embodiment of death, decay, sexual desire, restlessness, and distraction (Deustch 7...