On the Soul:Plato, Aristotle, Augustine
On the Soul
‘Psyche’ or the soul, is a intricate part of our being which many great thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle and Augustine aim to define and unravel. One should remain attentive to the fact that these great minds come to similar yet altered conclusions of the soul; for it is an intrinsic part of our being, aiding in our discovery and understanding of the world.
Plato addresses in his novel, The Phaedo, the notion of soul and body being separate entities. Often, Plato depicts the soul as the cognitive facet of a being, in contrast with the body. In the final rendition of Socrates death, Plato zeros in on the subject of immortality of the soul, along with the freedom and knowledge the soul obtains through death. It is evident throughout the reading that in order to reach a vast comprehension of the world, the soul must, “abstain from all bodily desires,” (Phaedo, 82c). Thus, self-denial of the material helps develop the purest connection with the immortal. Our soul according to Plato experiences life and death without ending. Our souls work is to create the best possible understanding of the material and immaterial world until reunited with the divine. Additionally, Plato proclaims that the body is the house for the soul in the human realm. When he says, ”[the] soul uses the body to examine something…when body and soul are together, nature directs the body to be ruled as a slave, the soul to rule as master,”(Phaedo, 79c-80a). Plato credits the soul as being the celestial entity that is to synchronize with the body in order to acquire knowledge of the human world. When listened to in isolation the body is able to learn from the souls innate knowledge. Socrates claims, “the body and its necessary upkeep presents endless distractions, and if we fall prey to disease, that too, hinders the hunt for what is… if we are ever to have clean knowledge of anything we must get rid of the body and observe the things themselves with the soul itself,” (Phaedo,
‘Psyche’ or the soul, is a intricate part of our being which many great thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle and Augustine aim to define and unravel. One should remain attentive to the fact that these great minds come to similar yet altered conclusions of the soul; for it is an intrinsic part of our being, aiding in our discovery and understanding of the world.
Plato addresses in his novel, The Phaedo, the notion of soul and body being separate entities. Often, Plato depicts the soul as the cognitive facet of a being, in contrast with the body. In the final rendition of Socrates death, Plato zeros in on the subject of immortality of the soul, along with the freedom and knowledge the soul obtains through death. It is evident throughout the reading that in order to reach a vast comprehension of the world, the soul must, “abstain from all bodily desires,” (Phaedo, 82c). Thus, self-denial of the material helps develop the purest connection with the immortal. Our soul according to Plato experiences life and death without ending. Our souls work is to create the best possible understanding of the material and immaterial world until reunited with the divine. Additionally, Plato proclaims that the body is the house for the soul in the human realm. When he says, ”[the] soul uses the body to examine something…when body and soul are together, nature directs the body to be ruled as a slave, the soul to rule as master,”(Phaedo, 79c-80a). Plato credits the soul as being the celestial entity that is to synchronize with the body in order to acquire knowledge of the human world. When listened to in isolation the body is able to learn from the souls innate knowledge. Socrates claims, “the body and its necessary upkeep presents endless distractions, and if we fall prey to disease, that too, hinders the hunt for what is… if we are ever to have clean knowledge of anything we must get rid of the body and observe the things themselves with the soul itself,” (Phaedo,