Plato Part 3 2025.powerpoint slides docs

Plato3

1. Plato Part 3 Summarized Notes

2. Knowledge as Reminiscence Following the Pythagoreans, Plato maintains that the human soul pre-existed before its union with the boy It pre-existed, according to Plato, in the world of Forms before it came into this world to be imprisoned in the body While in the world of ideas, the soul was acquainted with the idea or Forms of things. But when it came into this world and became imprisoned in the body, it forget or its knowledge.

3. Knowledge as Reminiscence Contd. It forgets its former knowledge of the essences of things But when in this world it perceives the shadows of the Forms, it is reminded of what it used to know, it remembers or regains its knowledge Hence the process of learning in this world is a process of reminiscence, a process of remembrance

4. The Nature of the Soul The Orphic-Pythagorean influence on Plato is most evident in his conception of the nature of the soul The soul is something divine in man, it is immortal, immaterial or spiritual. Its union with the body is purely accidental It formerly existed without a body and will continue to exist after its separation from the body at death But it will have to go through a series of re-incarnations until it is able to achieve final liberation or release Then it will go back to the world of Forms from which it came.

5. The Nature of the Soul Contd. Plato also adds an original element to his conception of the soul The soul according to him is made up of three parts, namely, the rational part, the spirited part and the appetitive part The rational part is the highest part of the soul; it is that part of the soul which is indestructive and immortal and which should control man It is that part of the soul which distinguishes man from the animals

6. The Nature of the Soul Contd. Its function is mainly to guide man and bring the other parts under control The spirited part corresponds to man’s higher emotions while the appetitive part corresponds to man’s lower emotions or sensual desires Plato illustrates this tripartite nature of the soul with the image of a charioteer and two horses. One of which is intractable and very difficult to control, while the other is tamed and behaves properly.

7. The Nature of the Soul Contd. The charioteer (the driver) is the rational part of the soul (reason) The tamed horse is the spirited part (the higher emotions) The bad and intractable horse is the appetitive part (the lower emotions or sensual desires). It is the duty of the charioteer (man’s reason) to direct the two horses (the higher and the lower emotions) and bring them under control