Plato's theory of the soul is one of the most debated in ancient Western philosophy. Read on and see all about Plato's Theory of the Soul below.

Plato's Theory of the Soul: Who was Plato?

Plato is an exponent of Ancient Greek philosophy, and no other philosopher has had a greater influence on Western culture. Most of his works, written in the form of dialogues, are centered on the philosopher Socrates, whose name has spanned millennia.

Greek philosophy in Plato's Theory of the Soul

Greek philosophy is divided into pre-Socratic and post-socratic and the socratic school is also known as a sophist.

His main influences are the philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides, and when Plato develops the Theory of Ideas, he seeks a reconciliation of the schools of these two philosophers.

Plato's Theory of Ideas and Theory of the Soul

In Plato's Theory of Ideas, two opposing and concomitant realities existed to form the world as it appears before our eyes. In this way, named Sensible the World of tangible things and which suffered depreciation either from time, or from any other element capable of modifying them.

On the other hand, the World of Ideas or Intelligible According to Plato, all the things in the world would have their virtue, the virtue of the eye being able to see, the virtue of the ear being able to hear, and by analogy, we could find the virtue of each thing.

The Function of the Soul

In The Republic, Socrates states that the function of the soul is to "superintend, deliberate, govern (the thoughts, words and deeds of the human being)" and that none of these functions could be performed by anything other than the soul.

The idea of animism seems to have preceded materialism according to the thinker Max Muller (1826-1900) who states that the animistic attitude appears at all points in humanity, in all historical ages. At the time when Plato lived in Greece (between 428 and 328 B.C.), the theories of the representation of the soul already were accepted and disseminated, and the Immortality of the Soul was discussed, since its existence was not in question.

he belief in the existence of the Soul in Plato's thought comes from Orphism, a group of ancient Greek religious traditions that placed great emphasis on life after death.

The Soul Theory

Plato/Socrates starts from the principle of the founding duality of the human race and in Plato's Theory of the Soul, divides the Human Being into two parts: the Body and the Soul. The body, which in the Theory of Ideas figures in the Sensible World, modifies and ages because it is perishable and does not sustain itself through time.

The Soul, on the other hand, would be Immutable, since it neither ages nor changes nor perishes. As an illustration, Socrates offers an allegory with a chariot illustrating it as the "I" who drives it, an ego as defined by Freud two and a half millennia later.

The thoughts that affect men in Plato's theory of the soul, on the other hand, would be the reins, and the feelings, to which man is so vulnerable, would be the horses.

The Triune Soul

In his theory of the Soul, Plato divides it into three parts: The Rational Soul, which rules the Head The Irrational Soul, which rules the Heart; The Concupiscent Soul, which rules the Lower Belly.

Tripartite Soul

From this tripartite vision of the Soul, Plato/Socrates argues that men could be classified according to the soul characteristics they present, and that the recognition of the type of Soul that inhabited him could be of great value for the Polis - the cities - since the virtues of each one could be directed to what the individual would really be able to do as a citizen contributing to the political practices in the Polis.

Dualistic body-soul relationship

In the dualistic body-soul relationship proposed in Plato's writings, the idea that the soul has more "importance" than the body is always outlined, and thus the "care of the soul" is seen as the heart of Socrates' Philosophy.

The body as "tomb of the Soul" is an expression that was recognized as pertinent among the Socratic philosophers. By this view the Soul was meant to be the Real Self while the physical body was almost considered a "dead weight".

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The book where these ideas are best discussed is the Phedon, where one realizes that the body according to dualistic view This division is what will give rise to the hierarchical order of the Ideal State described in The Republic.

Life and Death

In the Phedon, Plato/Socrates offers a privileged perspective on the ideas about the finitude of the body and the immortality of the soul, because it is about the final days of the philosopher who had been condemned to death .

During his last days - before taking the poison that would put an end to his life - he dialogues with some of his disciples his final thoughts on life and death, defending the immortality of the soul by using the Theory of Contraries.

In this Dialogue Socrates says that a philosopher does not mind going towards death because he will finally be able, in the Lands of Hades, to find Pure Wisdom, the ultimate goal of Philosophy. Plato was convinced of the eternity and transcendence of the soul beyond death, like the Pythagoreans and other pre-Socratic philosophers.

The Virtues of the Soul

To each part of the soul corresponds a virtue: Courage; Temperance; Knowledge and Wisdom - Courage: in general terms it could be defined as bravery in defending what is right - Temperance: the control of desires o Knowledge and Wisdom: the ability to rationalize and analyze.

The Justice

It is the fourth virtue that pervades the entire text of the Republica is Justice, a superior virtue that coordinates all the others is one of the cruxes of much of Plato's work.

Conclusion

For Plato, Man spends his earthly life invested in his body for the sole purpose of freeing his Soul, this time more conscious and equipped with Wisdom, so that it can dwell in the Immortal Realms.

This article was written by Milena Morvillo ( [email protected] ) A graduate in Psychoanalysis from IBPC, Milena also has a post-graduate degree in Acupuncture from ABA, is a specialist in English Language from UNAERP and a Visual Artist.(instagram: //www.instagram.com/psicanalise_milenar).