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Death and Immortality in Late Neoplatonism: Studies on the Ancient Commentaries on Plato's Phaedo' (Brill:2011)Author: Sebastian GertzSummary The belief in the immortality of the soul has been described as one of the “twin pillars of Platonism” and is famously defended by Socrates in Plato’s Phaedo. The ancient commentaries on the dialogue by Olympiodorus and Damascius offer a unique perspective on the reception of this belief in the Platonic tradition. Through a detailed discussion of topics such as suicide, the life of the philosopher and arguments for immortality, this study demonstrates the commentators’ serious engagement with problems in Plato’s text as well as the dialogue's importance to Neoplatonic ethics. The book will be of interest to students of Plato and the Platonic tradition, and to those working on ancient ethics and psychology.Table of contentsIntroduction1. Nature and purpose of the present study2. Olympiodorus and Damascius: two philosophical personalities2.1. Olympiodorus2.2. Damascius3. Interpreting the Phaedo: the centrality of the skopos3.1. Finding the skopos3.2. Applying the skoposChapter One: Olympiodorus on suicide1. Philosophy as meletê thanatou and the prohibition of suicide2. Two kinds of death and separation3. Two ways of arguing against suicide4. Olympiodorus’ three arguments5. The esoteric doctrine6. The philosophical argument7. The case for suicide8. Olympiodorus’ conclusionChapter Two: Politics and purification in Socrates’ second defence (Phd. 63b-69e)1. Introduction1.1. The civic virtues and the statesman1.2. Old puzzles2. The civic context(s) of Plato’s Phaedo3. The discourses on purification4. The virtues5. Conclusion: The rapture of virtuesChapter Three: Syrianus and Damascius: two interpretations of the argument from opposites in Plato’s Phaedo (Phd. 69e-72d)1. Introduction2. The background to Syrianus and Damascius3. Syrianus3.1. Syrianus’ interpretation of the argument from opposites in outline3.2. Syrianus’ approach to particular problems with the argument3.3. How much does the argument from opposites prove?4. Damascius: sôzetai ho logos?4.1. Damascius’ critique of Syrianus4.2. Damascius’ own version of the argument5. ConclusionChapter Four: Memory, forgetfulness and recollection in the Phaedo Commentaries1. Introduction2. What does the argument prove?3. What is recollection, and how does it work?4. What forms are recollected, and why do we need forms at all?5. Two puzzles about memory and recollectionChapter Five: The affinity argument in Plato’s Phaedo1. Introduction2. Alcinous, Plotinus and Porphyry3. Iamblichus4. Proclus’ analysis of the argument5. Damascius’ critique of Proclus6. Three objections to the argument7. Two Platonic problemsChapter Six: The final argument in Plato’s Phaedo1. The ‘second voyage’2. The final argument3. Strato’s criticisms and their impact4. Refuting Strato5. Damascius’ new analysis6. Concluding evaluation7. A final note on the argument for immortality in Proclus’Elements of TheologyChapter Seven: Immortality and afterlife in the Phaedo myth1. Preliminaries2. The afterlife journey: Phd. 107c-108c3. Which earth is the ‘true earth’?4. The underground rivers in Damascius and Olympiodorus5. EpilogueGeneral conclusions Bibliography