Platos concept of the soul
Plato’s Conception of the Psyche or Soul A crucial concept to understanding Plato’s conception of the soul can be found in The Phaedo. This concept is the theory of recollection found in the aforementioned dialogue. ... ” The Psyche or soul becomes an important element for Plato because souls acquire the knowledge mentioned above apart from the body, before they combine with the human body. The soul is the source of intelligence in humans and therefore and knowledge that humans have been already present within them already if the theory of recollection is to be correct. ... Necessarily, from Plato’s conception of knowledge through recollection, the concept of the soul should be consistent between each of the instances where it is discussed dialectically and poetically in the Platonic dialogues. ... In fact, Plato’s discussion of the soul reveals inconsistencies in the claims to knowledge about the soul as well as the soul’s origin and properties. An issue that is fundamental when examining Plato’s conception of the soul is the ability to actually know the Form of the soul. In the Phaedrus , Plato wrote poetically because “concerning the form of the soul, it is necessary to speak as follows: to say what it is in all respects would require a divine and very long narrative, but it is humanly possible to say briefly what it is like…” , Plato writes in poetic terms on the Form of the soul and draws an analogy to a charioteer with two horses. ... ” Since the poetics on the Form of the soul has no specific political or social meaning in the Phaedrus it is an analogy. The human soul is further explained in the Republic book IV dialectically. ... Plato utilizes his theory of opposites as an ultimate premise in his argument, which is also used in the Phaedo that will be discussed later, to justify the division of the soul. ... Plato concludes “…that the same number and the same kinds of classes as are in the city are also in the soul of each individual.