How is the human mind structured? What does consciousness consist of? And how can we make our soul as beautiful as possible? Plato, the founding father of Western philosophy, had these questions. He concluded that the soul is like a chariot: a driver with two horses. As a driver, the mind must control its horses, will and desire, in order to live a good life. And those who can do that must become the leaders of society. Plato called them ‘philosopher kings’ in his major work Politeia (The Ideal State).
Plato’s soul in pieces
Plato believed that people have souls. But this soul cannot be in one piece, he thought. The soul must consist of several parts. Why? Because the same thing cannot do two opposite things. One soul cannot want and not want something at the same time. Yet that happens all the time. Sometimes we want to go to bed and not, we want to sleep because we are tired, but we also want to stay up to play games. We want to eat ice cream because it’s tasty, and we don’t want to eat it because we’re on a diet. Sometimes we want two mutually exclusive things at the same time. This is only possible if we consist of different parts that disagree with each other. Our soul consists of different pieces; one part wants this, the other part wants that, Plato concluded. But what are those parts? And what should be in charge?
Phaedrus: Two horses and a driver
Plato stated in the Phaedrus that there are three parts of the soul: the desiring part, which turns us to food, bed partners and money; the willing part, concerned with honor and courage; and the rational part, which thinks deeply and logically about things. Plato depicted the reason or mind as a driver, and the will and desire as horses (see image). Desire is a wild horse that is sullen and goes in its own direction. The will listens well and often likes to do what reason tells it. The chariot on which the driver or driver stands has wings. The mind must guide both horses in the right path, so that the soul remains in harmony. If he succeeds, the chariot will ascend to heaven. That is the soul of the wise and righteous, who thus acquires knowledge of good. If reason fails, the irritable horse drags the cart to the ground, where it crashes. That is the soul of someone who loses himself in drinking, gambling or other addictions. Plato thought that reason should be in charge of feeling. Only then can one be truly good.
Like soul, like society: philosopher kings
Plato thought that the ideal society is structured exactly like the ideal soul. In The Ideal State he described three layers of people: the philosopher kings, the watchmen and the producers. The lowest group are the producers, who produce food, make tools or trade. The Guardians are the military force and they fight internal rebellions and external wars. The philosopher kings rule the country, make the laws and tell the guards what to do. In other words: reason, courage and desire. The philosopher kings have great talent, have studied for a long time and acquired knowledge of what is good; therefore, they may lead the other two groups.
What’s the good?
The mind focuses on the good, but what does Plato mean by that? The good is a difficult concept in Plato. In any case, good is not the same as pleasure, as in Epicurus. Rather, good means order and harmony, or virtue. But the Good is very difficult to understand, Plato stated. It cannot be found in its pure form in our world. The Good is more abstract and has a different form of existence. Therefore, it takes a very long time even for philosophers to understand it. The visible world around us is but a shadow of this pure Good. He came up with a metaphor of a cave to explain it.
Conclusion
Plato thought that the soul consists of three parts: reason, will and desire, which regularly disagree with each other. To remain in balance, the mind must be in charge of the emotional sides of the soul. With reason one can find out what is good and what is just. The desires should not distract too much from this. Only then can you be a good person. It is the same in society: the philosopher kings must rule over the brave watchmen and the covetous producers. news highlighted