1. Lesson 2: Plato: A dualist view
From your AS knowledge, Explain to the person next to you, what might Plato believe about the soul?

2. Consider two ideas of Plato
The Allegory of the Charioteer – the soul is simple yet complex
The Phaedo – the soul is immortal and exists before the body
Extension work – you could look at The Myth of Er

3. Soul Body Dualist approach Made distinction between the two
Body and soul complete opposites from each other
Body

4. Physical – can only learn through physical sense experience
In a constant state of change and therefore cannot be a source of knowledge
Knows the truth through reason
Capable of understanding the forms as they really are
The soul can hold this knowledge and therefore must be unchanging and immortal
Not only does it exist after death but pre – existed before birth

5. People’s inner mental life is the most important thing about them
Hopes, motives, opinions, emotions
Referred to it as psyche/soul
The real part of the person just temporarily attached to a physical body
Immortal and destined to live on after death
A guiding force, helping the mind and the body to work together

6. Plato distinction between body and soul
Made distinction between the soul and the body – took a dualist approach
Body and soul almost opposites
Soul has ability to know the truth and to understand the Forms as they really are through reason
Body in contrast is physical and can learn only through physical sense experience
Knowledge gained this way is inferior to knowledge gained through reason – the senses can often be mistaken
The body is in a constant state of change and therefore cannot be the source of knowledge
The soul is capable of certain knowledge - the soul must therefore be unchanging and it is therefore immortal – not only existing after death but also pre existing before birth.

7. Reason Spirit Desire Searches for the truth Rules the soul
Seeking pleasure for yourself,
Desire for what is necessary, like food, or unnecessary like luxury items
Includes aspects that can be trained such as agressiveness, honour, emotion
Spirit
Desire
In the Republic, Plato describes the soul as ‘simple’ and without parts’. This means that it cannot be divided or split into different sections. However, he also described it as complex. If you think of a diamond, it is simple and without parts, yet still complex. Plato identified three parts of the soul.

8. Three basic instincts which animate us into action.
Reason is the highest and superior of the three elements. It allows us to gain knowledge, distinguish from right and wrong and understand the forms.
Reason
Spirit
Desire
Allows us to love, inspires us to act out of courage – needs to be kept in check or we become reckless and conceited
Encourage us to look after the physical needs of our body – need to be kept in check

9. Spirit
Reason
Desire
The allegory of the charioteer

10. Without looking at your notes, answer the following questions
What type of approach did Plato take?
How did Plato believe the body gained knowledge?
What did he believe the soul was capable of?
The three parts of the soul are…
What analogy did Plato use to illustrate his idea of the way the three parts of the soul work together?

11. Disharmony of the soul…
Plato suggested that the soul consists of various aspects: spirit, reason and desire. How could the following crimes be explained in terms of disharmony between the aspects of the soul?
Vandalism
Perjury
Fraud
Drink Driving
Rape
Murder

13. Socrates VS
Simmias & Cebes

14. Plato puts into the mouth of Socrates his beliefs about the immortality of the soul
Aimed to show that Socrates had not failed in his mission to educate people, even though he had been executed – his soul would continue to immortality after death
Soul continues to live on in a state where it still has thought and intelligence – after death it is undisturbed by the distractions of bodily demands so it can reach it’s highest state
It is the soul that gives people life and so the soul must continue to live after death

15. Argument from opposites
The physical world consists of opposites

16. The opposite of alive is ….
For death to be a thing rather than ‘nothing’ the soul must exist so it is possible to talk of life and death as opposites. Since life must become death and death become life, Plato suggests reincarnation: In Phaedo, he gives examples of tyrants being reincarnated as wolves and drunkards as donkeys, whereas the souls of philosophers who see the Forms enjoy the company of the gods.

17. Argument from Recollection
Plato suggests that learning is just a matter of remembering. He suggests that there are things we know a priori, such as = 4. However, we also know other things, like if we see two sticks of approximately equal length, we know that they are approximately equal in length because we have seen the idea of ‘equal’ in the WoF.
True knowledge is innate, a priori. This is why we know the forms
Is learning really a matter of remembering?

18. Argument from Affinity
immaterial
immortal
mortal
visible
perishable
There is a difference between material and immaterial
invisible
material
Sort these words into two columns

19. Argument from Affinity
Plato argues that the soul is immortal, but immortality can take different forms. A soul that is not properly detached from the body will become a ghost that will long to return to the flesh, while the philosopher’s detached soul will dwell free in the heavens.
Simmias suggests that the soul may be immaterial and invisible in the same way as the attunement of an instrument. The attunement of the instrument can exist only as long as the instrument itself does.
Socrates, pointing out that his objection conflicts with the Theory of Recollection. The soul is not like the attunement of an instrument because the soul existed before the body did.
There is a difference between material and immaterial
Look up the word ‘affinity’ what does it mean?

20. Theory of Forms The soul is eternal, invisible and immaterial.
That concept suggests that the soul is intimately connected to the Form of Life. Since the Form of Life does not in any way include its opposite—death—the soul cannot in any way be tainted by death. Thus, Socrates concludes, the soul must be immortal.
Socrates illustrates his conception of the soul by means of a compelling myth that describes the earth we know as a poor shadow of the “true earth” above us in the heavens.
The soul is eternal, invisible and immaterial.
What do you think of Plato’s ideas? Which ideas are plausible to you?

21. Peter Geach rejects Plato!
What can it mean for disembodied souls to see the Forms since seeing is a process linked with experience through the senses?
Is existence without a body really ‘human existence’?
Plato has it wrong!
Evaluate Plato and Geach. Who has the better argument? Why?

22. Write down everything we have covered today:
You have 2 minutes!