Abstract
This chapter describes how to use the dialogue Phaedo to teach Neuroscience. Students read a selection from Phaedo along with the section from the textbook on Neuroscience. The Phaedo is one of the most memorable and interesting of all the Platonic dialogues. The setting of the dialogue is during the last days of Socrates’ life. He has been convicted by a jury of his peers in Athens for worshipping strange gods and corrupting the minds of the young. The dialogue takes place in Socrates’ prison cell as he awaits his execution. Socrates’ friends are with him and they are crestfallen. Socrates argues with several of his friends on the existence and nature of the soul. Once students become familiar with Socrates’ very extreme position on the human soul and its radical differences with the body, they can then compare and contrast Socrates’ “dualistic” position with the view coming from modern neuroscientific research which does not factor in the presence of an immaterial soul to explain mental phenomena.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ackerman, S. (1992). Discovering the brain. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Bonwell, C. G., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. Washington, DC: George Washington University.
Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Harvard Educational Review, 31(1), 21–32.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York, NY: Collier Books.
Gottschalk, H. B. (1971). Soul as harmonia. Phronesis, 39, 179–198.
Griggs, R. A. (2014). Psychology: A concise introduction (4th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.
Langton, R. (2000). The musical, the magical, and the mathematical soul. In T. Crane & S. Patterson (Eds.), History of the mind-body problem (pp. 13–33). London, UK: Routledge.
McKeachie, W. J., & Svinicki, M. (2006). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Montessori, M. (1966). The secret of childhood (M. J. Costello, Trans.). New York, NY: Ballantine.
Piaget, J. (1985). The equilibration of cognitive structures: The central problem of intellectual development. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.
Robins, I. (1997). Recollection and self-understanding in the Phaedo. The Classical Quarterly, 47(2), 438–451.
Taylor, C. C. W. (1983). The arguments in the Phaedo Concerning the thesis that the soul is a harmonia. In J. P. Anton & A. Preus (Eds.), Essays in ancient Greek philosophy. Albany, NY: State University of New York. (Original work published 1970).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dillon, J.J. (2016). Teaching Neuroscience with Phaedo . In: Teaching Psychology and the Socratic Method. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95050-8_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95050-8_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95049-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95050-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)