[1.2.5] Plato on Psychological Constitutions in the Republic

Plato (429?-347 BC) (through Socrates) in Book 4 of the Republic presents a theory, which states that the human soul has three main faculties: reason, spirit, and appetite (see also [1.2.2]). Based on this, he works out a typology of five pure types of humans souls, depending on two factors: the faculty which rules the soul, and in the case of the rule of the appetite, the necessary, lawful, or lawless character of the motivation.

The OntoUML diagram below shows this typology:

Plato on psychological constitutions
ClassDescriptionRelations
HumanSoul“But the arguments from conflict treat reason, spirit, and appetite as distinct subjects of psychological states and events, and it seems best to take Socrates’ descriptions at face value unless there is compelling reason not to. At face value, Socrates offers a more robust conception of parts, wherein each part is like an independent agent.
Indeed, this notion of parts is robust enough to make one wonder why reason, spirit, and appetite are parts at all, as opposed to three independent subjects. But the Republic proceeds as though every embodied human being has just one soul that comprises three parts. No embodied soul is perfectly unified: even the virtuous person, who makes her soul into a unity as much as she can, has three parts in her soul. (She must, as we shall see, in order to be just.) But every embodied soul enjoys an unearned unity: every human’s reason, spirit, and appetite constitute a single [human] soul that is the unified source of that human’s life and is a unified locus of responsibility for that human’s thoughts and actions.”
ReasonReason is the part of the soul that is, of its own nature, attached to knowledge and truth. It is also, however, concerned to guide and regulate the life that it is, or anyhow should be, in charge of, ideally in a way that is informed by wisdom and that takes into consideration the concerns both of each of the three parts separately and of the soul as a whole.” (Lorenz)is exclusive part of HumanSoul; rules Aristocratic
Spirit “The natural attachment of spirit is to honor and, more generally, to recognition and esteem by others.” (Lorenz) is exclusive part of HumanSoul; rules Timocratic
AppetiteAppetite gives rise to desire for instant gratification through food, drink, sex… is exclusive part of HumanSoul; rules Oligharic, Democratic, Tyrannical
Psychological Constitution “there are in fact five kinds of pure psychological constitutions: aristocratically […], timocratically […], oligarchically […], democratically […], and tyrannically constituted persons… The first three of these constitutions are characteristically ordered toward simple aims (wisdom, honor, and money, respectively), but the last two are not so ordered, because there is no simple aim of the unnecessary appetites, be they lawful or lawless.”characterizes HumanSoul
Aristocratic Aristocratically constituted persons are ruled by their reason, and are motivated by the attendance of wisdom.is Psychological Constitution
Timocratic Timocratically constituted persons are ruled by their spirited attitudes, and motivated mainly by honor.is Psychological Constitution
OligarchicOligharically constituted persons are ruled by their apetite in a necessary way, and motivated mainly by honor. is Psychological Constitution
Democratic “the democratic… souls treat desire-satisfaction itself and the pleasure associated with it as their end. The democrat treats all desires and pleasures as equally valuable and restricts herself to lawful desires” is Psychological Constitution
Tyrannicaltyrannical souls treat desire-satisfaction itself and the pleasure associated with it as their end…the tyrant embraces disordered, lawless desires and has a special passion for the apparently most intense, bodily pleasures”is Psychological Constitution

Sources

First published: 31/10/2019

[1.2.2] Plato on the Soul

Plato (429?-347 BC) in Book 4 of the Republic presents a theory, which states that the human soul has three main parts: reason, spirit, and appetite.
In Book 5 he maps the objects of the Intelligible and Visible realms known from the Two World Theory to different subordinated faculties of the soul, faculties, which are aimed to handle these objects.

FacultyRealmObject
REASON (logos)Intelligible (high)Knowledge, forms – grasped with the help of recollection and the lower-level faculties
THINKING (dianoia) Intelligible (low)Hypothesis, scientific knowledge
BELIEF (pistis) Visible (high) Ordinary physical objects
IMAGINATION (phantasia) Visible (low) Images, shadows of ordinary physical objects

The following UML Use Case diagram shows the main concepts in Plato’s philosophy of mind – as presented in different works:

Plato on soul

Use cases:

FacultyUse CaseRelations
SENSE PERCEPTIONSENSE PERCEPTION gets information about ordinary objects (particulars) (UC1):Perception, unlike discursive thought or belief, is aligned not with the so-called rational part of the soul, but with the desiderative part…, the senses are disparaged as a source of confusion and falsehood. The senses mislead us.” The cause of this misleading is the fact that we perceive particulars, ordinary material objects, not Forms.”
APPETITEAPPETITE (epithumêtikon) gives rise to desire for instant gratification through food, drink, sex…(UC2): “Appetite is primarily concerned with food, drink and sex (439d, 580e). It gives rise to desires for these and other such things which in each case are based, simply and immediately, on the thought that obtaining the relevant object of desire is, or would be, pleasant. Socrates also calls appetite the money-loving part, because, in the case of mature human beings at least, appetite also tends to be strongly attached to money, given that it is most of all by means of money that its primary desires are fulfilled.”includes UC1
SPIRIT SPIRIT aiming/motivating for esteem by others (UC3): “The natural attachment of spirit [thumoeides] is to honor and, more generally, to recognition and esteem by others. As a motivating force it generally accounts for self-assertion and ambition.”
REASONUse REASON (logos) to generate Knowledge (nous) (UC4):Reason is the part of the soul that is, of its own nature, attached to knowledge and truth. It is also, however, concerned to guide and regulate the life that it is, or anyhow should be, in charge of, ideally in a way that is informed by wisdom and that takes into consideration the concerns both of each of the three parts separately and of the soul as a whole.”includes UC2, UC3, UC5, UC6, UC7, UC8
IMAGINATIONUse IMAGINATION (eikasia) to grasp images (UC5): “there is the intelligible realm and the visible realm… At the bottom of the visible one finds images, shadows and such. Set over the images is the faculty of eikasia, imagination.”
BELIEFUse BELIEF (pistis) to grasp properties of ordinary objects (UC6): “there is the intelligible realm and the visible realm… The ordinary physical objects of which the images are images occupy the upper portion. Set over the physical world is the faculty of pistis, literally faith or conviction, but generally regarded as belief.
THINKING Generate hypothesis through THINKING (dianoia) (UC7): “A critical question then is how one obtains the appropriate kind of justification to tie down or convert a belief into knowledge. Plato offers little in the way of detail on this score, but twice he alludes to a method of hypothesis, suggesting both in the Phaedo and Republic that hypotheses and their ultimately being rendered ‘non-hypothetical’ is part of the process by which one comes to know a Form.”
RECOLLECTIONRECOLLECTION of what it once grasped of the forms (UC8):recollection… our disembodied, immortal souls have seen the Forms prior to their incarceration in the body. If Forms are the (basic) objects of knowledge, and Forms are not in the physical world, then we must have acquired that knowledge at some point prior to our commerce with that world.”

Actors:

ACTORDESCRIPTIONRELATIONS
Object in External World.A material object in the external world.in relation with UC1
Form(Platonic)Platonic form (see [1.2.1])in relation with UC7
User of the soulA human person.uses UC4

The following OntoUML diagram presents the main classes in Plato’s theory of soul:

Plato’s theory of soul

Sources:

First published: 10/1/2019
Updated: 13/6/2021
Updated: 6/11/2021 – added OntoUML diagram