A question regarding Plato's doctrine of the tripartite soul...: Philosophy Forums

A question regarding Plato's doctrine of the tripartite soul...

platypus
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Posted 08/19/08 - 09:17 AM: Subject: A question regarding Plato's doctrine of the tripartite soul...	#1
In the Republic, he essentially establishes that the soul exists in dualist fashion - something connected to the body so long as the body lives, but ultimately autonomous. He later establishes, in order to compare and contrast the individual and state, the tripartite model of the soul. My question is basically, how does Plato envisage the soul when it exists purely transcendentally, in Platonic heaven? I recall him attributing reigns of emotion or courage instead of reason to bodily faults. Does that mean the soul is purely a transcendental reason when separated from the body? Or are the elements of emotion/passion and courage/spirit instead in a slumber when separated from the body? Or, is the soul a composition of all three, simply with reason being unquestionably powerful when the body cannot sully its rule? Or I have interpreted something all wrong somewhere down the line?

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Posted 08/20/08 - 09:22 AM:	#2
As far as I understand it the soul for Plato is not dominated by reason, unless one has engaged in pure thought and accessed the transcendent truth. If one is exposed to this and has had adequate training in philosophizing, the individual's soul will be properly ordered after such exposure. It is only after such an exposure that reason comes to dominate the soul, and that is why he wants the Philosopher Kings to rule, as their souls are properly ordered. I do not think that the body, for Plato, has any bearing on how individual behaves.I seem to have got the idea that if the appetitive or spirited part of the soul dominated, as it does in most people, people will behave in ways more in line with bodily functions. But, this is because these individuals are not engaged in pure thought and thus have not accessed the truth. So, to answer your question the soul consists of three parts, the rational, the spirited and the appetitive.

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