Question

Plato believed in a Tripartite Nature of the Soul, and that the ideal was for Reason to rule Appetite and Spirit. Discuss this theory in relation to what you know of human development, from children to senior citizens.

Answer 1

The theory of human nature says about the tripartite nature of the soul . It says we have a dual soul that is from Hinduism we work of self realization and from Buddhism we learn there is nothing called self .

Plato says there is both physical and non physical body that is body and mind respectively, and soul is aware of both the forms.He says the soul remains alive before birth and after death and it gains knowledge apart from senses hence we should always keep the soul happy and not think about the body.

The soul is divided into 3 parts :

1. Reason
2. Appetite
3. Will

The will is having feelings like of love, anger, indignation, ambition, aggression, etc. When these feelings are not in balance, we experience mental conflict. The will can be on the side of either reason or the appetites. We might face lustful appetite, or the rational desire to find a lover.

When we deal much with reason and appetite we are among children . the time we realize our will our soul becomes happy and we become senior citizens.