Transcript Philosophy 224

Philosophy 224
Emergence of the Concept
Part 1
Reading Quiz

Which of the following is not a part of
the soul as characterized by Socrates
in Plato’s Republic?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Spirit
Appetite
Rational
Sensual
Who is Plato?

Plato (born 429 BCE, died in 347) was from
an old, aristocratic family in Athens.
 As a young man, Plato was interested in
philosophy and politics. He was a friend and
companion of Socrates. After the death of
Socrates, he fled Athens.
 Around 385 BCE, he founded his school, the
Academy, which many people call the first
university. It lasted until 529 CE. He taught at
the Academy, with a few interruptions, until
his death.
Who is Socrates?

Socrates (born ~470 BCE, died 399) was a
tradesperson by birth.
 He lived at the time of the peak of Athenian
power and was an adult during the
Pelopenesian war, in which he served with
distinction.
 He left no writings and it is therefore difficult
to discern his actual philosophical positions.
Keep in mind that when we are reading Plato,
Socrates is just a character in a dialogue.
Plato’s Work
Plato’s philosophical project is available to us
primarily through a series of dialogues.
 The dialogues pose us a particular problem of
interpretation. They are very tightly
constructed dramatic presentations of various
philosophical issues. Though the
philosophical content is at the heart of these
dialogues, it is not a simple matter to
separate the dramatic elements from the
philosophical.

The Phaedo

The dialogue is set during the last days of
Socrates’s life, while he is awaiting execution.
 Given the context, it is not surprising that the
conversation that takes place between
Socrates, Phaedo, Simias and Cebes
concerns death.
 Our selection is from the end of the dialogue.
Plato has provided an argument for the
immortality of the soul. When we join the
conversation is is cashing out the implications
of his claims.
Plato the Dualist

Plato was committed to a dualistic
metaphysics.
 There are two realms or regions of being: the
visible and the invisible.
 The body belongs to the visible realm, and is
subject to the principle of decay which
characterizes this realm in general.
 The soul, on the other hand, is a member of
the invisible realm, and can upon death, join
in communion with the gods.
The Body as an Obstacle
However, the body can get in the way of
this ascent if it is allowed to rule.
 The soul, “bewitched by physical
desires and pleasures to the point at
which nothing seems to exist for it but
the physical” (2c2) can be weighed
down by the body and prevented from
entering the invisible realm.

Philosophy is the Cure
What can prevent this? PHILOSOPHY!
 Philosophy pays attention to the divine
part in us, directing the soul away from
the body, and focusing it on what is truly
real (3c2).

The Phaedrus

The Phaedrus is set earlier than the Phaedo
and the subject matter is much different. The
two major themes of this dialogue are love
and language.
 Our selection comes from the discussion of
love. In order to show that love is a kind of
madness sent by the gods, Socrates insists
that the structure of the soul must be
considered. What results is a psychology of
love.
Winged Horses?
Assuming the soul’s immortality, Socrates
proposes an analogy to help articulate the
structure in question.
 The analogy is to a divine chariot, pulled by a
mismatched set of horses, one beautiful and
good, one ugly and bad.
 Though they are mismatched, they can work
together, pursuing good ends, and when they
do, the soul a s a whole is good.
 When they don’t, suffering and depravity
result.

The Republic
The Republic is Plato’s masterwork.
 It’s nominal subject matter is the nature of
justice, but it addresses almost every
philosophical topic then recognized and
opened up whole new fields of philosophical
research.
 Our selection is taken from a section of the
dialogue in which Socrates, in search of a
definition of justice, proposes that we seek
justice in an individual soul.

The Tri-partite Soul

This effort is part of an analogy. The soul, he
suggests, is like a city. If we can find justice in
the soul, we should be able to analogously
locate it in the city.
 He begins the section by noting that our
motivations are sometimes at conflict.
 That has to mean, that our soul (our psyche)
is internally divided.
 The initial division he proposes is between
our appetites and our reason.
But that’s only 2 parts.
The question arises whether our
emotions are to be located in one of
these two parts, or whether they amount
to a third part.
 The conclusion is that they (what Plato
calls the spirited element) are indeed
their own part.
 Thus, the soul is a tri-partite structure.

Who’s in charge?
The issue then becomes: how are these
parts organized?
 As the other selections from Plato
should suggest, the soul is well
organized when reason rules. The role
of spirit is to aid reason in keeping the
appetites in place.
