Platos Republic Three Parts of the Soul Essay Example for Free

Platos Republic Three Parts of the Soul EssayIn his book The Republic, Plato searches for justice within the individual(a) and what makes a person just. By comparing his sense of what is just at a political level and what is just at a psychological level he proposes three virtues of the individual which result make that particular person just. The virtues are of wisdom, courage and ease. A just man wont differ at all from a just city in respect to the form of justice rather hell be like the city (Republic 435b). Once Plato has put up justice within the city he seeks to transfer it back into the human soul.Plato talks slightly the ability of a person to be indecisive ab come out actions such as drinking when something in their soul forbids them to do so even if they zest it. This indecisiveness can be transformed into internal troth between more than one part of the soul. One part of the soul is the rational part and the part that lusts, hungers, thirsts and overhears e xcited is the appetitive part (439d). Plato then identifies a third part of the soul, the piquant part, which is used to create emotions. Appetite is a really big part of our souls.It contains both necessary desires, which should be indulged (such as the desire to eat enough to stay alive) and unnecessary desires, which should be limited (such as the desire to eat your entire birthday cake). Though the appetite lusts after galore(postnominal) things, Plato says its money-loving, since money is required for satisfying most of these desires. It is therefore pellucid to Plato that the rational part of the soul should rule, as the linguistic rules in the city do, because they both pompousness the virtue of wisdom and can therefore exercise foresight on behalf of the entire soul. 441e) Similarly, just as the guardians assist the rulers in maintaining justice within the city, the spirited part of the soul will use emotions in order to maintain order and harmony within the soul which is justice. These two parts of the soul will be able to control its appetitive part, which may, through its insatiable desire for money, attempt to overthrow its particular role and rule over the body and at last the classes that it is not naturally suited to rule over (442a).Consequently, justice in the individual and justice in the city would be overturned leading to bedlam and war. The rulers and guardians exist in order to control and direct the producers who are the majority of the population, as the rational and spirited parts of the soul rule the desires of the individual. Therefore a just person would be one with a spirited part of the soul that would persevere through pleasures and pains in order to carry out the rational parts intentions on what should be feared and what should not (442b).This ability is identifiable as the virtue of courage, which is evident in the guardians. Moreover, this pattern of parallel virtues between the city and the soul continues as a persons reason is most able to make decisions about what is advantageous for each part and for the whole soul when he/she has the association associated with wisdom. As a result the desires should be kept in a state of moderation by the rational part of the soul so that the ruler and the ruled both agree that the rational part should rule and not engage in civil war (442c).In conclusion, justice in the individual is similar to justice within the city where a person puts himself in order, is his own friend, and harmonizes the three parts of himself like three limiting notes in a musical scale (443d). In the city, justice is obtained by the three parts of society each fulfilling their role as best they can, and displaying the same three virtues of wisdom, courage and moderation. This leads to a harmony between the parts, the best possible combination, which is described as justice by Plato both within the city and within the soul.This should be obvious as after all, a city is made up of man y individuals. The harmonious or rightly ordered soul, then, is one which practices the virtues of each part. The virtue of the appetites is moderation the virtue of the spirit is courage the virtue of the intellect is wisdom. Through these virtues the human soul attains a certain concord or integrity, which Plato understood as the scarcely real happiness worthy of the name. The overall purpose of the Republic is for Plato to understand what makes people happy. He discovers this through the process of dividing the soul up and seeing how they carry together.Ultimately, if you live a just heart you live a life of wisdom and your rational side comes first. If you live an unjust life you live your life by honor, victory, or money. Most men and women living unjust lives have a one-track mind. They forget their other priorities and doing whats right just so they get what they want. Just people always beat and unjust person and live a happier and fuller life. His separation of the soul is really simplistic altogether. However, his individual ideas were very complex. Plato wanted us to to think for ourselves to discover how we decide to arrange our parts of the soul.