Plato's Anthropological Dualism: Body and Soul Explained

Plato's Anthropology: Body and Soul

Anthropological Dualism

Plato, drawing on Orphic and Pythagorean influences, developed an anthropological theory to support his ethical and political conceptions. His dualist view conceives the human being as composed of a body (soma) and a soul (psyche) joined accidentally.

The Body

The body is a sensible, generated entity that is destined to perish. It acts as an obstacle to perfection; therefore, the mission of humanity is to pursue purification (catharsis) to allow the soul to ascend to its natural place: the world of ideas. In this view, the body is the tomb (sema) of the soul.

The Soul

The soul is immortal, dominates the body, and is a homogeneous substance. Its primary activity is the contemplation of ideas, which forms the essence of being human. Consequently, Platonic anthropology is inherently psychological. Plato divided the soul into three parts:

The Nature of the Soul

• Foundation of Life: Derived from the Latin anima, the soul is that which animates the body and provides movement.
• Source of Knowledge: We possess knowledge because of the soul. It identifies with the nous, an intelligence trained to perceive true reality: the Ideas.
• Capacities (Dynamis): The soul possesses three distinct dimensions and functions:

The Three Dimensions of the Soul

• Rational: Represented by the charioteer, this is the decision-maker that provides access to ideas.
• Irascible or Volitional: The dimension where voluntary impulses reside.
• Concupiscible or Appetitive: The source of desires and passions related to the body.

Virtue and Harmony

Plato defines desired behavior as virtue. The virtues corresponding to the soul's parts are:

• Rational: Prudence (phronesis)
• Irascible: Strength or Courage (andreia)
• Concupiscible: Temperance (sophrosyne)
• Justice (Dikaiosyne): The fourth virtue, consisting of balance and harmony between the three parts.

Like Socrates, Plato asserts the immortality of the soul based on reminiscence (to know is to remember; at birth, the soul already knows the ideas), its ungenerated nature, its simplicity, and the necessity of universal justice.

The Ascent to the Intelligible

Because the soul is trapped in the body, humans must return to their natural state through purification (catharsis). Plato proposes four paths to achieve this:

• Love: An ascent to perfection starting from beautiful things.
• Dialectic: A cognitive method that lifts the soul to the intelligible realm.
• Death: The event that finally frees the soul from the body.
• Virtuous Life: The practice that allows the soul to return to its initial equilibrium.