Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

's theory of the soul, which was inspired variously by the teachings of

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

, considered the psyche () to be the

essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

of a person, being that which decides how people behave. Plato considered this essence to be an incorporeal, eternal occupant of a person's being. Plato said that even after death, the soul exists and is able to think. He believed that as bodies die, the soul is continually reborn (

metempsychosis In philosophy and theology, metempsychosis () is the transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death. The term is derived from ancient Greek philosophy, and has been recontextualized by modern philosophers such as Arthur Sc ...

) in subsequent bodies. Plato divided the soul into three parts: the ''logistikon'' (reason), the ''thymoeides'' (spirit, which houses anger, as well as other spirited emotions), and the ''epithymetikon'' (appetite or desire, which houses the desire for physical pleasures).

The tripartite soul

The Platonic soul consists of three parts, which are located in different regions of the body: # The ''

logos ''Logos'' (, ; ) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric, as well as religion (notably Logos (Christianity), Christianity); among its connotations is that of a rationality, rational form of discourse that relies on inducti ...

'' ( λογιστικόν), or ''logistikon'', located in the head, is related to reason and regulates the other parts. # The '' thymos'' (θυμοειδές), or ''thumoeides'', located near the chest region, is related to spirit. # The ''

eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

'' (ἐπιθυμητικόν), or ''epithumetikon'', located in the stomach, is related to one's desires. In his treatise The ''

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

'', and also with the chariot allegory in '' Phaedrus'', Plato asserted that the three parts of the ''psyche'' also correspond to the three classes of society (''viz.'' the rulers, the military, and the ordinary citizens). The function of the ''epithymetikon'' is to produce and seek pleasure. The function of the ''logistikon'' is to rule through the love of learning gently. The function of the ''thymoeides'' is to obey the directions of the ''logistikon'' while ferociously defending the whole from external invasion and internal disorder. Whether in a city or an individual, justice ( δικαιοσύνη, ''dikaiosyne'') is declared to be the state of the whole in which each part fulfills its function, while temperance is the state of the whole where each part does not attempt to interfere in the functions of the others. Injustice ( ἀδικία, ''adikia'') is the contrary state of the whole, often taking the specific form in which the spirited are obedient to the appetitive while they together either ignore the logical entirely or employ it in their pursuits of pleasure.

In the ''Republic''

In Book IV, part 4 of the ''Republic'',

and his interlocutors (

Glaucon Glaucon (; ; c. 445 BC – 4th century BC), son of Ariston, was an ancient Athenian and Plato's older brother. He is primarily known as a major conversant with Socrates in the ''Republic''. According to Debra Nails, two major facts about Glau ...

and Adeimantus) are attempting to answer whether the soul is one or made of parts. Socrates states: "It is obvious that the same thing will never do or suffer opposites in the same respect in relation to the same thing and at the same time. So that if ever we find these contradictions in the functions of the mind we shall know that it was not the same thing functioning but a plurality." (This is an example of Plato's

principle of non-contradiction In logic, the law of noncontradiction (LNC; also known as the law of contradiction, principle of non-contradiction (PNC), or the principle of contradiction) states that for any given proposition, the proposition and its negation cannot both be s ...

.) For instance, it seems that, given each person has only one soul, it should be impossible for a person to simultaneously desire something yet also at that very moment be averse to the same thing, as when one is tempted to commit a crime but also averse to it. Both Socrates and Glaucon agree that it should not be possible for the soul to be at the same time both in one state and its opposite. From this, it follows that there must be at least two aspects to the soul. Having named these as "reason" and "appetite", Plato goes on to identify a third aspect, "spirit", which in a healthy psyche ought to be aligned with reason.

Reason (λογιστικόν)

The logical or ''logistikon'' (from ''

'') is the thinking part of the soul, which loves the truth and seeks to learn it. Plato originally identifies the soul dominated by this part with the Athenian temperament. Plato makes the point that the ''logistikon'' would be the smallest part of the soul (as the rulers would be the smallest population within the Republic), but that, nevertheless, a soul can be declared just only if all three parts agree that the ''logistikon'' should rule.

Spirit (θυμοειδές)

According to Plato, the spirited or ''thymoeides'' (from '' thymos'') is part of the soul by which we are angry or get into a temper.''Republic'
4.439e
– via Perseus. He also calls this part 'high spirit' and initially identifies the soul dominated by this part with the

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

, and the people of "northern regions".

Appetite (ἐπιθυμητικόν)

The appetite or ''epithymetikon'' (from '' epithymia'', translated to Latin as '' concupiscentia'' or ''desiderium'').

Reincarnation

Plato's theory of the reincarnation of the soul combined the ideas of

and

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

, mixing the divine privileges of men with the path of reincarnation between different animal species. He believed the human prize for the virtuous or the punishment for the guilty were not placed in different parts of the underworld but directly on Earth. After death, a guilty soul would be re-embodied first in a woman (in accordance with Plato's belief that women occupied a lower level of the natural scale), and then in an animal species, descending from quadrupeds down to snakes and fish. According to this theory, women and the lower animals were created only in order to provide a habitat for degraded souls. Plato, most of the time, says that there is a distinct reward-and-punishment phase of the afterlife between reincarnations. Only in the ''Timaeus'' and ''Laws'' does the reward-and-punishment phase disappear; in these two texts, the punishment is said to be the reincarnation itself.Kamtekar, Rachana. "The Soul’s (After-) Life," ''Ancient Philosophy'' 36 (1): 115-132. 2016.

References

External links

"Plato: Moral Psychology"
''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. {{Plato navbox Plato's theory of soul