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12 - Soul and state in Plato's Laws

from Part III - After the Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2012

By
Luc Brisson
Edited by
Rachel Barney ,
Tad Brennan  and
Charles Brittain
Rachel Barney
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Tad Brennan
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Charles Brittain
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

This chapter highlights how three distinct parts of the soul are to be found in the Laws: intellect, spirit, and appetite. The starting point for all reflection on Plato's Laws must be the recognition of its unusual position as far as the definition of politics is concerned. The Laws are much less explicit than the Republic on the subject of virtue. This chapter shows how a bipartition of the soul, far from excluding a tripartition, in a way implies it. It also shows how thumos may be considered a source of authority intermediary between intellect and appetite, and able to tend in both directions. One of the major differences between the Laws and the Republic consists in the fact that in the Laws, all the citizens, men and even women, must fight in the army, which is led and trained by specific magistracies.

Keywords

appetitive soulhuman bodyoikeionspirit's sensitivityPlato
Type
Chapter
Information
Plato and the Divided Self , pp. 281 - 308
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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