plato, aristotle and descartes on body and soul michael lacewing
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Plato, Aristotle and Descartes on body
and soul
Plato, Aristotle and Descartes on body
and soul
Michael LacewingMichael Lacewing
Plato’s PhaedoPlato’s Phaedo
Death is the separation of the soul from the body
When it is joined to a body, “the soul is only able to view existence through the bars of a prison, and not in her own nature; she is wallowing in the mire of all ignorance”
Death is the separation of the soul from the body
When it is joined to a body, “the soul is only able to view existence through the bars of a prison, and not in her own nature; she is wallowing in the mire of all ignorance”
A separate soul IA separate soul I
Souls can’t be destroyed The soul is unseen All unseen things are ‘simple’, they have no parts
To destroy something is to break it into parts
Objection: perhaps there are other types of destruction
Souls can’t be destroyed The soul is unseen All unseen things are ‘simple’, they have no parts
To destroy something is to break it into parts
Objection: perhaps there are other types of destruction
A separate soul IIA separate soul II
Change is change from what something (currently) is to what it (currently) is not
Life changes into not-life, death
Becoming alive involves a change from not being alive
Upon life, the soul is joined to the body - so the soul exists before birth
Objection: not all change is like this - coming into existence is not a change into an opposite
Change is change from what something (currently) is to what it (currently) is not
Life changes into not-life, death
Becoming alive involves a change from not being alive
Upon life, the soul is joined to the body - so the soul exists before birth
Objection: not all change is like this - coming into existence is not a change into an opposite
AristotleAristotle
A person is an ‘ensouled body’ The soul is the ‘form’ of the living
body - what does this mean? Four types of ‘cause’ or
explanation Material: ‘that out of which a thing
comes to be, and which persists’, e.g. marble of a sculpture
Efficient: brings about change or rest, e.g. the sculptor
A person is an ‘ensouled body’ The soul is the ‘form’ of the living
body - what does this mean? Four types of ‘cause’ or
explanation Material: ‘that out of which a thing
comes to be, and which persists’, e.g. marble of a sculpture
Efficient: brings about change or rest, e.g. the sculptor
Four causes (cont.)Four causes (cont.)
Final: ‘the end (telos), that for which a thing is done’, e.g. the answer to why the sculptor made the statue
Formal: ‘the account of the essence’, e.g. what a ‘sculpture’ is, so that we understand what the sculptor was doing
Final: ‘the end (telos), that for which a thing is done’, e.g. the answer to why the sculptor made the statue
Formal: ‘the account of the essence’, e.g. what a ‘sculpture’ is, so that we understand what the sculptor was doing
What is a heart?What is a heart?
Material: muscle (flesh) Formal: pumps blood Final: sustain life by
pumping blood Efficient: cell development
guided by genes aiming at creating a living organism
Material: muscle (flesh) Formal: pumps blood Final: sustain life by
pumping blood Efficient: cell development
guided by genes aiming at creating a living organism
What is a soul?What is a soul?
‘living is the being [the essence] of living things, and the soul is the cause and principle of this.’ (415b). What it is to be a living being
is to live; and the soul is the formal, efficient and final cause of a living thing.
‘living is the being [the essence] of living things, and the soul is the cause and principle of this.’ (415b). What it is to be a living being
is to live; and the soul is the formal, efficient and final cause of a living thing.
What is a soul?What is a soul?
Final: living things live in order to live (stay alive)
Efficient: living changes and develops our bodies; it changes and develops us as persons
Formal: the activity of living provides an account of what it is to be what we are, a particular kind of living being.
Final: living things live in order to live (stay alive)
Efficient: living changes and develops our bodies; it changes and develops us as persons
Formal: the activity of living provides an account of what it is to be what we are, a particular kind of living being.
Soul as formSoul as form
Matter endures (material cause). But we always identify matter by some form it has.
With living beings, matter constantly changes. Living things are forms embodied in ever-changing matter. Even to refer to a ‘living thing’ is to privilege form over matter.
Matter endures (material cause). But we always identify matter by some form it has.
With living beings, matter constantly changes. Living things are forms embodied in ever-changing matter. Even to refer to a ‘living thing’ is to privilege form over matter.
Human soul and bodyHuman soul and body
Different living things are capable of different kinds of lives: plants: growth and
reproduction; animals: sensation; human beings: rational activity
So each has a corresponding type of soul.
Different living things are capable of different kinds of lives: plants: growth and
reproduction; animals: sensation; human beings: rational activity
So each has a corresponding type of soul.
The intellectThe intellect
No part of the body corresponds to the intellect Each sense is limited to a type of
experience But thought can be about anything
So the intellect ‘seems to be another kind of soul, and this alone admits of being separated, as that which is eternal from that which is perishable’ (428b)
No part of the body corresponds to the intellect Each sense is limited to a type of
experience But thought can be about anything
So the intellect ‘seems to be another kind of soul, and this alone admits of being separated, as that which is eternal from that which is perishable’ (428b)
Descartes on the soulDescartes on the soul
Aquinas developed Aristotle’s ideas, claiming the soul, intellect and the form were the same thing, and a separable substance
Descartes agrees, but drops reference to ‘form’: The soul is the intellect and a separate substance from the body.
Bodies work mechanically - they don’t need explaining in terms of the soul.
Aquinas developed Aristotle’s ideas, claiming the soul, intellect and the form were the same thing, and a separable substance
Descartes agrees, but drops reference to ‘form’: The soul is the intellect and a separate substance from the body.
Bodies work mechanically - they don’t need explaining in terms of the soul.
What am ‘I’?: the narrow viewWhat am ‘I’?: the narrow view
‘I’ am essentially a soul, a thing that thinks that can be separated from a body. (Meditation II)
But is Descartes right to think souls can be separated from bodies?
‘I’ am essentially a soul, a thing that thinks that can be separated from a body. (Meditation II)
But is Descartes right to think souls can be separated from bodies?
What am I?: the broad viewWhat am I?: the broad view
‘I am not only lodged in my body as a pilot in a vessel, but…I am very closely united with it, and so to speak so intermingled with it that I seem to compose with it one whole.’ (Meditation VI)
I am a person - an embodied soul. the soul takes on bodily experiences
as its own, i.e. we refer our sensations, emotions, etc. to our selves.
‘I am not only lodged in my body as a pilot in a vessel, but…I am very closely united with it, and so to speak so intermingled with it that I seem to compose with it one whole.’ (Meditation VI)
I am a person - an embodied soul. the soul takes on bodily experiences
as its own, i.e. we refer our sensations, emotions, etc. to our selves.
What am I? essentiallyWhat am I? essentially
I am not essentially a person, because I could be the same ‘thing’ - a soul - without a body.
I am essentially a person, since I am my psychological properties, and these depend on my body.
I am essentially a person, because the unity of soul and body creates a new, distinct kind of thing.
I am not essentially a person, because I could be the same ‘thing’ - a soul - without a body.
I am essentially a person, since I am my psychological properties, and these depend on my body.
I am essentially a person, because the unity of soul and body creates a new, distinct kind of thing.