Philosophy
For those of you who would like to read how I personally think this background is useful for our lives today (4 Today) there is a short piece on this subject on my more personal blog at: Virtue and Excellence In Leisure Time
- Desire Is A Man's Best Friend?
Socrates delves deeper in his search for justice by expressing his views on the idea of the three different parts of the soul, rational, spirited, and desire. In the previous book, book VIII, Socrates looked at the evolution of government in a society;...
- Desire Is A Man's Best Friend?
Socrates delves deeper in his search for justice by expressing his views on the idea of the three different parts of the soul, rational, spirited, and desire. In the previous book, book VIII, Socrates looked at the evolution of government in a society;...
- Why Are The Many Bad?
October 30, 2005 Book VI According to book six in The Republic of Plato Socrates defines how and what causes and defines the corrupt or bad person, the many. According to Socrates, virtues also shared by the true philosophers such as courage and...
- 'the Philosopher Amongst The Stars' - A Talk By Tim Addey
'The Philosopher Amongst the Stars' [I am currently attending in London a very interesting series of 5 talks/seminars presented by the Prometheus Trust. A sample of the notes to the third talk is below with a link to the full notes on the...
- 'the Philosopher In The Soul' - A Talk By Guy Wyndham-jones
[I am currently attending in London a very interesting series of 5 talks/seminars presented by the Prometheus Trust. A sample of the notes to the second talk is below with a link to the full notes on the Trust?s website for those that like the flavour...
Philosophy
The Three Powers of The Psyche (Soul) and their Virtues
In the early spring of 2013 I had the pleasure to attend three ?Socratic? lectures in London given by Tim Addey and Guy Wyndham-Jones of the Prometheus Educational Trust. I posted brief details at the time for anyone who might want to go along; but now I wish to pick out one or two threads and ideas from those talks to discuss on my blog. Today I wish to outline the essence of what Socrates and Plato meant by VIRTUE and EXCELLENCE (ARETE)? which is just slightly different than what we often regard as ?the virtues? as later described in specific detail by Aristotle.
Tim Addey reminds us in his first talk ?The Philosopher in the World? that philosophy (the love of wisdom) in its simplest sense is just about making the best choice we can when faced with a range of possible actions in a given situation. Every human being chooses what they consider to be the wisest choice and rejects the more foolish according to their own criteria. No-one would choose to act foolishly we can presume ? although that may become apparent in hindsight.
We have as Tim suggests to make our way through the drama of life, hopefully avoiding too much tragedy ? and hopefully not ?frutting and stretting like poor actors across the stage? too much as Shakespeare once beautifully put it. In order to live well ? we must Know Ourselves as inscribed above Apollo?s temple in Delphi; and this means to know where we are and what we are as individual human beings, collective societies and as human beings within a vast universe. Now whether readers of this piece are religious and spiritual people or not ? I want to find and use a term for the inner self ? or rational consciousness ? that makes rational decisions about the actions we can take. Tim Addey suggests using the word ?soul? providing we can leave the considerable baggage associated with this word behind. I somehow doubt this ? and so will stick to the word ?psyche? used by the ancient Greeks, which literally meant 'breath'. Keep in mind that the word 'psyche' meant a little bit more to the ancient Greeks in some ways that soul means to us today; but in other ways carried less baggage than the word 'soul' does to most people today. For the non-spiritual reader ?rational consciousness as yet to be fully scientifically explained? will do just as well ? but I shall use psyche for convenience now.
Now the seeker of wisdom ? the philosopher ? in the Socratic and Platonic tradition consciously cultivates wisdom as he goes through the life lived by the psyche while living as a human being here on earth.
The psyche is seen as having three essential faculties or powers - and one of these might be called the ?desiring? nature which pursues what it perceives to be goodness through an instinctive attraction to whatever is beautiful.
The second faculty we can call the ?knowing? nature which peruses goodness and truth through investigation and trying to look beyond the first appearances of the person or situation requiring action. On another level it persues the truly good rather than what merely appears to be good or a good idea.
The third faculty or power sits somewhere between the previous two - almost trying to harmonise them into a unified whole. This third faculty was known as ?thumos? in Greek ? which actively desires the good but listens also to the rational and investigative part of the psyche. It is often vary clumsily translated with the word 'anger' today ? but it should include ?spirited? and 'vibrant' and 'positive actions' within its borders. Once again, we must be cautious with the way some words are translated since we use some words differently these days. I will therefore keep to the word thumos for this third faculty or power of the psyche.
This gives us a tri-partite psyche (soul) in the Platonic view ? and this idea comes up time and again in the writings of Plato in various ways. My favourite example is in the Phaedrus dialogue ? where we find the Myth of the Charioteer presenting the rational part of the psyche as a Charioteer being pulled by a good white horse (the spirited, active and ordinative part of the psyche) and a dark unruly horse which represents the desiring or appetitive part of the psyche. Without going into all the details here ? it is sufficient to quote that: ?the life of the Charioteer is not always an easy one?..?
Now?.. finally moving to my main theme of this particular blog ? the virtue & excellence of the various parts of the psyche ? I should point out that each of the three main faculties of the soul mentioned above can be improved individually ? which leads on to the improvement of the whole psyche. Indeed, each of the three faculties has a perfection ? and were a person able to perfect all three areas he would have perfected his psyche or soul as much as a human being could in the this mortal life. The perfection of these three faculties of the soul is ARETE in its formal description ? that is VIRTUE and EXCELLENCE.
Specifically, the improvement and excellence of rational, knowing, investigative faculty of the soul (the Charioteer) is wisdom - where we become proficient in recognising the truly good from what only appears to be good?.
The excellence of the thumos (spirited and active part - the white horse) is fortitude or courage ? which keeps us going in tough and difficult times ? and can keep us steadfast and stable amidst the storms of life. It also helps to keep us true to the directions of the rational faculty, even in difficult times when easier options to choose from might tempt us away from the path we have chosen.
The improvement or excellence of the desiring quality of the soul (the dark unruly horse) is temperance ? so that our pursuit of goodness in the form of beauty remains within its proper limits?. and allows our normal human desires to be kept under the control of the rational faculty. (It is not wrong to have desires per se in Plato ?or to act on these desires providing that are kept under rational control.)
In addition to the three virtues or excellences of the psyche mentioned above (temperance, wisdom, fortitude or courage) there is a fourth virtue in the Platonic tradition JUSTICE ? which is mostly where a civil community is arranged in the best way for the community. Justice can also be applied to our personal choices and therefore psyche or soul in some ways.This is a reasonable enough point to clarify that while we often talk about a tripartite soul in Plato - it does not mean that it is in three distinct bits which are then stuck together - it simply means that there are three distinct qualities or powers to the psyche.
Now just a little more about these four virtues ? three which are mostly faculties of the psyche or soul ? and the fourth which largely applies to our communities and societies as a whole. The psyche can exercise its various powers outwardly towards the world, inwardly towards itself, and upwardly so to speak towards the immaterial causes, the divine, and the metaphysical. In each of these three cases (directions) the development of the four virtues is necessary if the process of obtaining excellence (ARETE) is to be advanced.
When the virtues are directed outwardly they are called civic or political virtues;
When the virtues are directed inwardly for self-improvement they are called cathartic (or purifying) virtues;
When directed upwards they are called contemplative or theoretic virtues; (?.. and Tim Addey reminds us in his talk that: ?for the causes from which we descend are only to be seen in purest contemplation?.)
?Bite Size Chunks? is one of the promises of this blog and so I will finish this introductory look at the Socratic Platonic four virtues here. I will conclude by adding just one more paragraph from the notes to Tim Addey?s talk on this subject:
?This then, is the internal constitution of the human soul, with its powers and excellences: but what is the place of such a creature in the world? If justice enables parts to contribute to the whole, what kind of life should we be living in order to both give and take goodness in the universe??.. and how will the lover of wisdom extend the goodness inherent in his or her soul into the material world?
Tim Addey reminds us in his first talk ?The Philosopher in the World? that philosophy (the love of wisdom) in its simplest sense is just about making the best choice we can when faced with a range of possible actions in a given situation. Every human being chooses what they consider to be the wisest choice and rejects the more foolish according to their own criteria. No-one would choose to act foolishly we can presume ? although that may become apparent in hindsight.
We have as Tim suggests to make our way through the drama of life, hopefully avoiding too much tragedy ? and hopefully not ?frutting and stretting like poor actors across the stage? too much as Shakespeare once beautifully put it. In order to live well ? we must Know Ourselves as inscribed above Apollo?s temple in Delphi; and this means to know where we are and what we are as individual human beings, collective societies and as human beings within a vast universe. Now whether readers of this piece are religious and spiritual people or not ? I want to find and use a term for the inner self ? or rational consciousness ? that makes rational decisions about the actions we can take. Tim Addey suggests using the word ?soul? providing we can leave the considerable baggage associated with this word behind. I somehow doubt this ? and so will stick to the word ?psyche? used by the ancient Greeks, which literally meant 'breath'. Keep in mind that the word 'psyche' meant a little bit more to the ancient Greeks in some ways that soul means to us today; but in other ways carried less baggage than the word 'soul' does to most people today. For the non-spiritual reader ?rational consciousness as yet to be fully scientifically explained? will do just as well ? but I shall use psyche for convenience now.
Now the seeker of wisdom ? the philosopher ? in the Socratic and Platonic tradition consciously cultivates wisdom as he goes through the life lived by the psyche while living as a human being here on earth.
The psyche is seen as having three essential faculties or powers - and one of these might be called the ?desiring? nature which pursues what it perceives to be goodness through an instinctive attraction to whatever is beautiful.
The second faculty we can call the ?knowing? nature which peruses goodness and truth through investigation and trying to look beyond the first appearances of the person or situation requiring action. On another level it persues the truly good rather than what merely appears to be good or a good idea.
The third faculty or power sits somewhere between the previous two - almost trying to harmonise them into a unified whole. This third faculty was known as ?thumos? in Greek ? which actively desires the good but listens also to the rational and investigative part of the psyche. It is often vary clumsily translated with the word 'anger' today ? but it should include ?spirited? and 'vibrant' and 'positive actions' within its borders. Once again, we must be cautious with the way some words are translated since we use some words differently these days. I will therefore keep to the word thumos for this third faculty or power of the psyche.
This gives us a tri-partite psyche (soul) in the Platonic view ? and this idea comes up time and again in the writings of Plato in various ways. My favourite example is in the Phaedrus dialogue ? where we find the Myth of the Charioteer presenting the rational part of the psyche as a Charioteer being pulled by a good white horse (the spirited, active and ordinative part of the psyche) and a dark unruly horse which represents the desiring or appetitive part of the psyche. Without going into all the details here ? it is sufficient to quote that: ?the life of the Charioteer is not always an easy one?..?
Now?.. finally moving to my main theme of this particular blog ? the virtue & excellence of the various parts of the psyche ? I should point out that each of the three main faculties of the soul mentioned above can be improved individually ? which leads on to the improvement of the whole psyche. Indeed, each of the three faculties has a perfection ? and were a person able to perfect all three areas he would have perfected his psyche or soul as much as a human being could in the this mortal life. The perfection of these three faculties of the soul is ARETE in its formal description ? that is VIRTUE and EXCELLENCE.
Specifically, the improvement and excellence of rational, knowing, investigative faculty of the soul (the Charioteer) is wisdom - where we become proficient in recognising the truly good from what only appears to be good?.
The excellence of the thumos (spirited and active part - the white horse) is fortitude or courage ? which keeps us going in tough and difficult times ? and can keep us steadfast and stable amidst the storms of life. It also helps to keep us true to the directions of the rational faculty, even in difficult times when easier options to choose from might tempt us away from the path we have chosen.
The improvement or excellence of the desiring quality of the soul (the dark unruly horse) is temperance ? so that our pursuit of goodness in the form of beauty remains within its proper limits?. and allows our normal human desires to be kept under the control of the rational faculty. (It is not wrong to have desires per se in Plato ?or to act on these desires providing that are kept under rational control.)
In addition to the three virtues or excellences of the psyche mentioned above (temperance, wisdom, fortitude or courage) there is a fourth virtue in the Platonic tradition JUSTICE ? which is mostly where a civil community is arranged in the best way for the community. Justice can also be applied to our personal choices and therefore psyche or soul in some ways.This is a reasonable enough point to clarify that while we often talk about a tripartite soul in Plato - it does not mean that it is in three distinct bits which are then stuck together - it simply means that there are three distinct qualities or powers to the psyche.
Now just a little more about these four virtues ? three which are mostly faculties of the psyche or soul ? and the fourth which largely applies to our communities and societies as a whole. The psyche can exercise its various powers outwardly towards the world, inwardly towards itself, and upwardly so to speak towards the immaterial causes, the divine, and the metaphysical. In each of these three cases (directions) the development of the four virtues is necessary if the process of obtaining excellence (ARETE) is to be advanced.
When the virtues are directed outwardly they are called civic or political virtues;
When the virtues are directed inwardly for self-improvement they are called cathartic (or purifying) virtues;
When directed upwards they are called contemplative or theoretic virtues; (?.. and Tim Addey reminds us in his talk that: ?for the causes from which we descend are only to be seen in purest contemplation?.)
?Bite Size Chunks? is one of the promises of this blog and so I will finish this introductory look at the Socratic Platonic four virtues here. I will conclude by adding just one more paragraph from the notes to Tim Addey?s talk on this subject:
?This then, is the internal constitution of the human soul, with its powers and excellences: but what is the place of such a creature in the world? If justice enables parts to contribute to the whole, what kind of life should we be living in order to both give and take goodness in the universe??.. and how will the lover of wisdom extend the goodness inherent in his or her soul into the material world?
Notes:
I hope to place some more ideas from these Prometheus Trust talks into ?Bite Size Chunks? in due course. For those who would like to read more on this now take a look at my original post about these talks which has links to the full notes. See:
The Philospher in the World (by Tim Addey)
For those of you who would like to read how I personally think this background is useful for our lives today (4 Today) there is a short piece on this subject on my more personal blog at: Virtue and Excellence In Leisure Time
- Desire Is A Man's Best Friend?
Socrates delves deeper in his search for justice by expressing his views on the idea of the three different parts of the soul, rational, spirited, and desire. In the previous book, book VIII, Socrates looked at the evolution of government in a society;...
- Desire Is A Man's Best Friend?
Socrates delves deeper in his search for justice by expressing his views on the idea of the three different parts of the soul, rational, spirited, and desire. In the previous book, book VIII, Socrates looked at the evolution of government in a society;...
- Why Are The Many Bad?
October 30, 2005 Book VI According to book six in The Republic of Plato Socrates defines how and what causes and defines the corrupt or bad person, the many. According to Socrates, virtues also shared by the true philosophers such as courage and...
- 'the Philosopher Amongst The Stars' - A Talk By Tim Addey
'The Philosopher Amongst the Stars' [I am currently attending in London a very interesting series of 5 talks/seminars presented by the Prometheus Trust. A sample of the notes to the third talk is below with a link to the full notes on the...
- 'the Philosopher In The Soul' - A Talk By Guy Wyndham-jones
[I am currently attending in London a very interesting series of 5 talks/seminars presented by the Prometheus Trust. A sample of the notes to the second talk is below with a link to the full notes on the Trust?s website for those that like the flavour...