Theory and Understanding of Plato
For Plato, the soul is a grounded aspect of human nature; it is innate, and based upon an adequate understanding of human actions. Plato, from observing human tendencies, arrives at the conclusion that there must be three separate portions of the soul. This notion is based upon the fact that people are often drawn towards certain actions while they are simultaneously pulled away from them; an alcoholic may desire a drink, but at the same time may want to resist such behavior. This sort of conflict, residing in a single individual, could be interpreted or explained in a number of ways; Plato, however, rests his explanation upon a principle that he believes to be the truth: "It is obvious that the same thing will not be willing to do or undergo opposites in the same part of itself, in relation to the same thing, at the same time. So, if we ever find this happening in the soul, we'll know that we aren't dealing with one thing but many." (Plato, BIV, 463d). In other words, Plato believes that a single entity cannot hold two contradictory opinions or aims at the same time. As a result, he divides the soul into rational, irrational, and spirited parts, because a single person often wills things that cannot possibly coincide.
the many problems that arise from this particular understanding of the soul is that it is not abundantly clear, from the examples Socrates uses, that Plato's conception of the irrational soul is truly driven by irrational motives. He uses the natural desire to drink as an illustration. Plato contends that when people are driven towards drink through thirst, this thirst is truly an irrational emotion. Socrates states, "Doesn't that which forbids in such cases come into play-if it comes into play at all-as a result of rational calculation, while what drives and drags them to drink is a result of feelings and diseases?" (Plato BIV, 439c). Glaucon readily consents to this idea; however, it is not quite so obvious that Socrates is correct. The most glaring problem facing any philosopher who attempts to generate a theory of the human being as having a distinct soul and body, is demonstrating how these competing entities communicate with one another. Plato seems to handle this fairly well with his idea of the irrational and rational; irrational aims are strongly linked to the needs of the body, while the other parts of the soul are more separate. However, this necessarily runs across problems if we recognize that Plato's understanding of irrational desires are not fundamentally irrational. If thirst is rational, then there can be no clear distinction between the irrational and rational aspects of the soul. Additionally, if this division is ambiguous, then the separation of the soul and the body, in general, must
Some common words found in the essay are:
Plato BIV, , Socrates Plato's, Socrates Doesn't, conscious mind, desire drink, feeling thirst, rational irrational, irrational soul, irrational thirst, separation soul, chooses thirst, thirst irrational, soul body,
Approximate Word count = 1023
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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