The Nature And Existence Of The Soul Flashcards
(6 cards)
Who was Plato and what did he believe about the soul?
-A classical Greek philosopher
-Plato was a dualist who believed that the soul, or psyche, is an immaterial and immortal substance that exists independently of the body
-For Plato, the soul is the true essence of a person and existed before birth, having fallen from the World of the Forms—a realm of perfect, eternal truths
How did Plato describe the soul?
-He described the soul as “in the very likeness of the divine, and immortal, and intellectual,” highlighting its rational and eternal nature
-The body, by contrast, is temporary and corruptible, acting as a distraction from true knowledge
What did Plato believe the purpose of life was?
-Plato saw the purpose of life as the soul’s journey to regain its former state by seeking wisdom through reason
-He also believed in reincarnation, suggesting that the soul’s next life is determined by the moral quality of its previous one
-This reinforces his belief that the soul is eternal and separate from the body, capable of surviving death and progressing toward truth across lifetime
Did Aristotle believe the soul could exist outside the body?
-For Aristotle, the soul cannot exist without the body—it is not a separate substance but rather the actuality of a potential living body. He believed that the soul expresses itself through activity and purpose, and famously wrote, “we are what we repeatedly do
-Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit,” suggesting that the soul is seen in lived behaviour and moral character rather than in abstract metaphysical realms
Who was Aristotle and what did he believe about the soul?
-A Greek philosopher and science
-Aristotle, on the other hand, rejected this dualist view and argued from a monist perspective that the soul and body are inseparable. He defined the soul as the “form of the body,” meaning it is the organising principle that makes a living body alive, just as the structure of a house makes it more than a pile of bricks
What did Aristotle believe the purpose of life and the soul was?
-While Plato saw the soul as something that escapes the body and moves toward perfection, Aristotle saw it as the essence of what it means to be alive, specific to the kind of being it inhabits
-For humans, this includes rationality, but it still dies with the body
-Their opposing views reflect a deeper debate about whether the soul is an eternal, independent self or simply the integrated form and function of a physical being
