- Plato believed that there must have been a pre-natal existence in which we were all in possession of truths. These truths were then forgotten when our souls passed from the other world to reside in our material bodies.
- This belief supports the view that knowledge must be of a timeless world which is in some sense beyond or behind the world of everyday experience. The educated soul (psyche) can reach out towards this ideal world from which it came and to which it will once more return after death.
- Later, Plato made a further distinction, associating the soul with the mind, or the reasoning part and associating the emotional and natural responses to life with the body. Finally, he saw the psyche as more complex, being responsible for reason, emotion and all other aspects of life. He uses two analogies to compare the relationship between the body and the soul.
The City §
- Plato suggested that just as a soul has three parts - reason, the spirited part (from which comes emotions and passions) and the base appetites… a city has its philosophers/guardians, defenders/army and workers.
- If a city is to function well, all these different parts need to operate as a unit. Therefore, the idea of a life of the soul is when all three aspects of self are balanced, with authority coming from the top down.
- Hence, the well-balanced person has his or her appetites held to check by a sense of purpose and intention and this in turn is under the rule of reason.
The Chariot §
- Plato describes a person as a chariot. The charioteer (driver) is reasonable and the two horses that pull the chariot are will and appetite. The task of reason is to pull them in check.
- Plato clearly has a dualistic view of the soul and the body. The body is physical and limited; the soul is essential and belongs to the world of forms. The body can be destroyed at death, but the soul - not being physical - cannot be destroyed and therefore moves on to another life.
- The soul experiences the body and whole sensory world as imperfect and insignificant compared to its true origin - the world of Forms/ideas. The soul longs to be freed from the chains of the body.