PLATO’S TRIPARTITE SOUL

by T K Jayaraman IRS (Rtd)

Teaches Western Philosophy, English and French at Indian Institute of World Culture

 

 

 Plato’s “Republic “is the most well known of his works. In most of these works in the form of dialogues, Socrates is the principal character. Republic contains ten parts. In part four, Socrates compares a city with human soul. He defends the analogy of the city and the individual and proceeds to distinguish three analogous parts in the soul with their natural function. By using instances of psychological conflict, he distinguishes the function of the rational part from that of the appétitive part of the soul. Then he distinguishes the function of the spirited part from the functions of the other two parts. The function of the rational part is thinking, and that of the spirited part the experience of emotions, and that of the appétitive parts the pursuit of bodily desires. Socrates explains the virtues of the individual’s soul and how they correspond to the virtues of the city. Socrates points out that one is just when each of the three parts of the soul performs its function. Justice is a natural balance of the soul’s parts and injustice is an imbalance of the parts of the soul. Socrates is now ready to answer the question whether justice is more profitable than injustice that goes unpunished. To do so he will need to examine the various unjust regimes and the corresponding unjust individuals in each.