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.