Plato -- the Republic Why

Plato -- the Republic

Why think that the soul has separate parts? Exactly how do Socrates' arguments go?

In Book IV of the Republic, the idea of justice in the ideal city follows the same structure as the classes around which the ideal city is organized. Moreover, similarly to the state - that is divided into three classes, i.e. The philosophers, the auxiliaries, and the artisans, traders and farmers - the soul also encompasses three parts. Thesis: The ideal city and the soul share the same structure, that is they are both based upon the concept that each part of the soul, respectively of the city, has certain characteristics, and is equipped to perform a certain task as established by nature: "And we surely haven't forgotten that the city was just because each of the three classes in it was doing its own work.... Then we must also remember that each one of us in whom each part is doing its own work will himself be just and do his own" (Plato: book IV)

The tripartite nature of the city is reproduced in the nature of the soul; this can be explained by the belief that the soul will ground the nature of the city by grounding the nature of its citizens. The ideal city encompasses three classes; within each class, the citizens are endowed with certain qualities which define them as members of that particular class, and make them suitable to successfully perform their class's tasks. Similarly, the soul is divided into three parts, each having a particular nature. The first important aspect is that the soul appears to be made up of at least two parts in the sense that if a soul can desire one thing, but refrain from acting in that particular direction, it is obvious that there are - at least - two distinct parts in the composition of the soul because as Socrates points out, one thing cannot have opposing interests in itself in relation to the same issue. Consequently, Socrates identifies two moments which correspond to different parts of the soul; on the one hand, there is the rational - i.e. The result of rational calculation - and the irrational appetitive part that is the element of desire within the soul. These can be considered the two extreme poles of the human soul, which in the case of the ideal city, find their correspondents in the ruling class - the rational - and the working class - the irrational part of the soul; here it is important to take Socrates' observation regarding the relation between these poles into consideration. His argument is that the two extreme sides are opposed by nature hence they exist in a state of "civil war." The third part of the soul is identified as the "spirited part" which is "far from being [appetitive], for in the civil war in the soul it aligns itself far more with the rational part" (Plato: book IV).

The healthy soul is the one where reason, assisted by spirit, rules over desire, be it for food, sex, etc. A healthy soul - according to Socrates - means that the individual is just inside and out, in the sense that on the one hand, the individual will be ruled by reason thus he will be just on the inside, and on the other, he will be just on the outside because someone who is ruled by reason cannot rob or cheat: "Both together will they not be the best defenders of the whole soul and the whole body against attacks from without; the one counseling, and the other fighting under his leader, and courageously executing his commands and counsels?" (Plato: book IV). Also, Socrates claims that similarly to a healthy body, a healthy soul is something we should all strive for. Moreover, he provides a definition of virtue as the well-being of the soul "Then virtue is the health and beauty and well-being of the soul, and vice the disease and weakness and deformity of the same?" (Plato: book IV)