1 of 19

TIME IN PHILOSOPHY

TIME AND IMMORTALITY

Bozeșan-Drehe Anastasia

Martin Amalia

Micea Carla

Rieger Carla

Roșca Mara

2 of 19

The qualities of the platonic soul…

The soul, in certain spiritual, philosophical and psychological traditions, represents the immaterial essence, that is mortal or immortal. Many of the spiritual philosophical systems teach that humans have souls and the soul is believed to come out of the human body when it dies and continues to live after death. The soul is considered the integral and essential part of human consciousness and personality and can also be considered an independent entity or even a human being.

3 of 19

Plato was a philosopher of ancient Greece considered the leading figure who developed Western philosophy and tradition and the only philosopher whose work has survived intact for more than two millennia.

Plato’s conception of immortality is summarized in a writing called Phaidon from which we conclude that between the body and the soul, as the body is not eternal, the soul is the one that lives forever.

4 of 19

Phaidon and immortality

Phaidon is a dialogue written by Plato in which he recounted the last day of Socrates in prison and his execution. In Phaidon, Socrates talked about his conviction in the immortality of the soul and in life after death.

Immortality is a totally unexplored concept about we can’t express our valid opinion. All of us have wondered at least once in our lives, how is to be immortal? But in fact we have no way of knowing, it is an inexplicable and complex thing that at some point would have some limits or consequences.

5 of 19

“No one knows whether death may not be the greatest good that can happen to a man.” - Plato

”Being afraid of death is to imagine as if you know what you do not know” - Plato

6 of 19

Examples of immortality in the Romanian and ancient Mesopotamian culture

Two examples that present the main theme, eternal life and the journey to acquire it are: "The Epic of Gilgamesh", which is said that has been written by Sin-Leqi-Unninni and “Youth without aging and Life without Death” by Petre Ispirescu. Both texts focus on the idea of acquiring eternal life at any cost, without taking into account the impact that this can brings.

7 of 19

Plato's Phaidon and the two texts “The epic of Gilgamesh” and Youth without aging and Life without Death” convince us that with the passage of time, we analyze life from all points of view and if we stop to think about the immortality of soul and body is not the best choice, because the soul is immortal anyway.

8 of 19

The Epic of Ghilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, belonging to the Sumerian-Babylonian culture. It is the writing from literature, dating from the beginning of the third millennium BC. It has been preserved, loosely, on 12 clay tablets, in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal of Nineveh and talks about the heroic adventures of Gilgamesh, the legendary king of the city of Uruk. The poem was discovered only in the nineteenth century. Probably of Sumerian origin, but absorbed and adapted by the successive civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean, the poem contains many mythological elements that would appear in the literature and mythological-religious traditions of later civilizations.

9 of 19

Summary

The theme of the poem refers to the effort of people to attain happiness through eternal life and youth without old age. Gilgamesh's Epic is also a poem dedicated to friendship. The main character of the poem is the king of the city of Uruk, Gilgamesh. He leads a life full of delights, which causes the dissatisfaction of his subjects. Therefore, by listening to the prayers of the people, the gods create a man, a savage being with extraordinary strength, Enkidu. The two fight, but they end up cherishing each other and a sincere friendship is born between them. Gilgamesh and Enkidu commit great deeds, which attracts people's admiration. The goddess Ishtar falls in love with Gilgamesh, but is rejected by the king of Uruk. The goddess decides to take revenge and sends a disease that kills Enkidu. Gilgamesh tries to avoid the fate of his friend. He goes in search of a cure to give him life without death and youth without old age. He finds a miraculous herb that he wants to take to the people of Uruk. On the way, however, his medicine is stolen by a snake. Thus, Gilgamesh is convinced that people are not destined to live forever. The epic is also an important historical source, as it provides historians with valuable information about how the people of Mesopotamia lived several thousand years ago.

10 of 19

Infographic

Representation of the first tablet of the epic, presenting the beginning of Ghilgamesh’s journey in search of immortality.

11 of 19

The leaving looking for the eternal life

Over his friend, Enkidu, Gilgamesh cried bitterly, roaming the wilderness.

"I am going to die!--am I not like Enkidu?!

Deep sadness penetrates my core,

I fear death, and now roam the wilderness--

I will set out to the region of Utanapishtim, son of Ubartutu,

and will go with utmost dispatch!

12 of 19

Association between Plato and Ghilgamesh

Plato: "If the soul existed before birth and if its entry into life, its birth, can have no other origin than death, the state of death, it does not necessarily have to exist even after death, since it is time to give birth again? ”

Ghilgamesh mirrors the eternal human, the turmoil of man ruled by the fear of death, longing to unravel the mysteries of immortality and thus overcome the human condition. Shortly, it is an epic in which life is sought.

13 of 19

”Youth without ageing and Life without Death “

by Petre Ispirescu

14 of 19

Informations

Publicated: 1862

Author: Petre Ispirescu

Ocupations : edithor, folclorist, teller, writer and printer

Genre: popular fairy tale

Country of first appearance: Romania

Collection :”Legends or fairy tales of the Romanians”.

15 of 19

Summary

Once upon a time there was an emperor and an empress who had no children. One day they found someone who gave them some medicine to have a baby, but they were told they would not have him. When the time came for him to be born, he began to cry and never stopped. To calm him down, the emperor told you that he would give them youth without old age and life without death.

At the age of fifteen, Prince Charming asked his father what he had promised him. But he could not give anything, because he made his promise only to calm him down. Then the boy looked for a horse to take care of and took some armor.

Then he went to look for what he wanted. On the way he met Gheonoaia and her sister, with whom he fought and defeated them. Eventually, the prince arrives at a castle and finds youth without old age and life without death. There he married a fairy. She told them that from then on she could go anywhere she wanted, except in the Valley of Lamentation. One day, on the hunt, he got there without wanting to and began to miss his parents very much. In vain the fairies told him that they were not long, that he was still leaving. Prince Charming got there, but the palace had been demolished for a long time, the Fairies were right. As he had no youth there, he grew old and found an old crate where his death was. He opened it and then died.

In Romanian Prince Charming is translated as Fat-Frumos

16 of 19

The association between Plato's philosophical ideas and

the folk tale "Youth without ageing and Life without Death"

17 of 19

The main idea of the fairy tale is the purpose for which Prince Charming came into the world, namely the acquisition of immortality and, similar to Plato's ideas. According to Plato, man knows by heart.

The body and the sensations explain how things are. The soul and intelligence explain what things are.

Another resemblance is that the body is treated as the place where the soul lives, being the expression or sign (of the week; sema = sign, seems to be the sum) of the soul. Thus, the soul is different from the body and uses it as a tool to achieve its goals.