Socrates Soul Analysis

This section of “Plato’s Republic” demonstrates key ideas of the soul from Socrates view point. From the start of this section Socrates introduces his ideas to Glaucon. Socrates believed that cities have three attributes. He goes on to explain that since the attributes of a city come from the people living within, the soul must also be split into three attributes. Socrates attempts to break down the soul into three different categories; the part of the soul that learns or thinks (rational), the part of the soul that desires pleasure, and the part of the soul that is spirit. However, Socrates is still unsure; he still believes that the soul could be one entity rather than split into three. So to prove it he states that each part of the soul …show more content…
Socrates continues his point, and compares that example to that of a spinning top. Something that is spinning is still moving, while it looks like it isn 't due to our perception. When it starts to wobble humans no longer perceive the top as stationary. Socrates uses the axis and the circumference in reference to the parts of the soul, when all the parts work together perfectly it’s as if it’s not moving. But once we break it down into circumference, axis, geo-location, we then see that in reality the top is moving. Similarly to our soul, when we just look at our soul it only seems to be one entity, but in Socrates view he believes that there are three components to the soul. This argument ultimately leads to appetites. A lot of the time the soul wants something, but still decides to push it away, or reject it. Socrates then goes on to say the easiest example is hunger and thirst. People have an appetite for certain types of drinks, whether that is temperature, types of drink, or however much drink is in the cup. Ultimately, appetite is strictly what our body …show more content…
Furthermore, Socrates uses the story of Leontius as an example to find the last part of the soul. Leontius was walking when all of a sudden he spotted several corpses on the ground. He wanted to look, but was disgusted so he kept looking away and covering his face. Eventually, he fought himself to look and rushed towards the body and screamed viciously at the corpses. They use this example to prove that spirit is different from appetite. They then try to prove that spirit is different from rationality with the example of small children. They claim that small children are full of spirit straight from birth, however many children never acquire rational thought, thus creating separation from one of the other 2 parts of the soul. With this logic they are able to infer that spirit is the third part of the soul. I believe that the argument that the soul can be split into three parts is completely incorrect. I believe that the soul itself is one entity that ultimately has several characteristics, including but not only, rational thought, appetite and