Parallel Soul-State in Plato's Republic
- Submitted by: Hasoul
- Views: 338
- Category: Politics: Philosophy
- Date Submitted: 04/15/2014 05:45 PM
- Pages: 7
- Report this Essay
Plato’s tripartite soul
In The Republic, Plato tries to create the ideal Polis. In order to do so, he states that the citizens of this Polis shall receive a special education and comes up with his own educational plan. Plato’s objective is to ensure (or at least try to) the equilibrium and the justness in every individual’s soul. His educational plan derives essentially from Plato’s tripartite soul theory and his theory of the forms. Therefore to understand his view on education, it is capital to be familiar with this concept.
For Plato, the world is divided in two categories, the physical world which we live in and includes everything that we can see or touch, and the intellectual world, which is made of abstract concepts and ideas, the world of forms. Everything in the physical world is false; everything we see or touch is only an imperfect representation of an idea of the intellectual world. That is the reason why the physical world is also referred to as the world of appearances. In his allegory of the cave, Plato demonstrates how important philosophy is to enlighten a person and make them understand the world of forms and to gradually lean towards the very essence of things or as he calls it: Truth. Truth is not only essential in terms of knowledge of what is true and what is not; it is what enables the Good, highest of all forms and origin of them.
Therefore fore a city to lean toward the Good, it has to be run by philosophers.
As Plato’s perfect city reflects its people and their virtues, it makes sense to say that a balanced community requires balanced citizens. To attain this state of equilibrium in a person, Plato seeks for the different and contradictory forces that can tug one’s soul in a sense or in the other. To first demonstrate there is indeed multiple parts in a human’s soul, Plato uses a concrete example: when a person is thirsty, they feel the need to drink. However if this same person is still thirsty but is suffering a throat illness,...
In The Republic, Plato tries to create the ideal Polis. In order to do so, he states that the citizens of this Polis shall receive a special education and comes up with his own educational plan. Plato’s objective is to ensure (or at least try to) the equilibrium and the justness in every individual’s soul. His educational plan derives essentially from Plato’s tripartite soul theory and his theory of the forms. Therefore to understand his view on education, it is capital to be familiar with this concept.
For Plato, the world is divided in two categories, the physical world which we live in and includes everything that we can see or touch, and the intellectual world, which is made of abstract concepts and ideas, the world of forms. Everything in the physical world is false; everything we see or touch is only an imperfect representation of an idea of the intellectual world. That is the reason why the physical world is also referred to as the world of appearances. In his allegory of the cave, Plato demonstrates how important philosophy is to enlighten a person and make them understand the world of forms and to gradually lean towards the very essence of things or as he calls it: Truth. Truth is not only essential in terms of knowledge of what is true and what is not; it is what enables the Good, highest of all forms and origin of them.
Therefore fore a city to lean toward the Good, it has to be run by philosophers.
As Plato’s perfect city reflects its people and their virtues, it makes sense to say that a balanced community requires balanced citizens. To attain this state of equilibrium in a person, Plato seeks for the different and contradictory forces that can tug one’s soul in a sense or in the other. To first demonstrate there is indeed multiple parts in a human’s soul, Plato uses a concrete example: when a person is thirsty, they feel the need to drink. However if this same person is still thirsty but is suffering a throat illness,...