Plato’s Philosophy: Soul, Reality, and the Ideal State
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Projected on the bottom of the wall. In this state, they remain until one is freed from his chains and can exit the cave into the light of the sun and real things (the world of ideas).
This myth we can outline in four points:
- The ontology represents different degrees of reality.
- The myth symbolizes the degrees of knowledge and is explained in the allegory of the segmented line.
- It is found in an ethical interpretation. Life is life on the spiritual dimension. The passage from the sensible to the intelligible is represented as a liberation from the bonds.
- Finally, the myth also expresses the Platonic political conception. The philosopher tells us of a return to the cave by one who had been released and aims to release the chains that were before their fellow slaves.
Plato’s Theory of the Soul
For Plato, man is composed of the Soul, which is of the same nature as the Ideas, and they belong to your world.
The other part is the body, which is of the same nature as the sensible world and has the characteristics of this world.
According to Plato, the union of soul and body is accidental. The soul is divided into three parts.
The Myth of the Winged Chariot
A description of the soul, like a winged chariot drawn by two horses and driven by a driver;
The charioteer represents reason. The two horses represent its good and bad. The good matches the irascible soul, the bad with the concupiscible. Thus the soul has three parts:
- Rational soul: It is the most noble and high, created by the Demiurge. Its main activity is to know intellectually, direct, and guide the other two parties. It is located in the head, the brain.
- Irascible soul: It symbolizes courage, strength, and will, that is, all good trends of man. It is located in the chest.
- Concupiscible soul: It symbolizes the desires and tendencies, i.e., the uncontrollable passion. From it come all the vulgar appetites. Located in the abdomen, the belly. Its virtue is temperance.
Plato’s Ideal State
Plato believed that the only soul that is immortal is rational. For each type of soul, there is a type of virtue. Plato proposes in its ideal state, a city that must be divided into three estates. At the highest layer would be the philosopher-king and should have more developed the rational soul, so that virtue is prudence and wisdom.
The soldier’s estate would have to be dominated by the irascible soul and have the virtue of strength and courage. In third place would be the craftsmen in the prevailing concupiscible soul and its virtue is temperance.
Nietzsche’s Critique of Plato
Plato says that the truly real is the world of ideas which is captured by the right. This view is criticized by Nietzsche, who says that there are no absolute truths.
Nietzsche is a follower of Heraclitus, therefore, is opposed to Parmenides and Plato accordingly. For Nietzsche, the only truth is that everything changes. He says the essence of the world is the will to power and distinguishes between two types of people: The man herd, which is driven by the Apollonian, and the Superman line, which is what makes the laws and is driven by their instincts.
Plato and Christianity
Plato is the precursor of the ideology of Christianity. The World of Ideas becomes God. Nietzsche called the herd man also Christian. To stop all cattle, men must be to kill God (Superman).