Caring for the Soul
Embracing the idea of immortality and knowing that death takes away everything except the soul, Plato teaches us that our primary concern in life must be caring for the soul.
This primarily involves purifying it, freeing it from the sensory and striving for union with the spiritual world.
Explaining the nature of the soul, i.e. what the soul is like now and what it was like before descending into the sensory world, Plato symbolically equates it with the sea deity Glaucom, on whose body much has grown after a long stay in the depths of the sea. It is completely covered in shells, algae, and sand, and its body is broken and disfigured by the waves, so that it resembles more of a monster than a deity. The soul is in a similar state and must shed everything unnecessary – everything that makes it heavy and formless and does not allow it to know itself. The soul needs to be cleansed from everything that has grown attached to it during many incarnations.
Much earthly has clung to the soul. and a wild beast, she is plagued by internal contradictions, because Plato says that the soul appears from the outside as a single being, but in reality, it is composed of three entities: man, lion, and chimera, which are tightly fused together. An unreasonable person feeds their multi-headed chimera, while starving the inner person. Conversely, a reasonable person strives to establish justice in their soul. They will nourish and cultivate tame instincts in the chimera, and not allow the wild ones to grow; they will make the strength of a lion their ally; they will take care of everything as a whole; they will befriend each other and themselves, and raise everything in this way. (The Republic, 589b). Each of these three parts of the soul has its own type of perfection, one virtue: wisdom for the rational part, courage for the willful part, and moderation for the appetitive part.
Plato has emphasized many times that injustice, immoderation, cowardice, ignorance, and other vices harm the soul, making it a prisoner of the body. To all of this, we must add egoism or excessive self-love, which blinds the soul of a person and causes them to judge justice poorly. Truth allows us to see and understand the world’s beauty and goodness, as Plato believes that we should always value what is ours more than the truth. Unfortunately, this misconception has led many to believe that their own ignorance is wisdom. Therefore, it is essential for each person to avoid excessive self-love and instead strive to become better than themselves, without being hindered by any feelings of shame. In Plato’s view, the purification of the soul is achieved through the discipline of the body and mind, which internally transforms a person and makes them resemble a deity. In this sense, truth itself becomes a purification from all that is impure, and wisdom, justice, courage, and knowledge themselves become a form of purification. These virtues are the ultimate goal of philosophical inquiry, and the extent to which we are purified determines how much we discover them within ourselves. Purification is akin to developing the soul’s ability to perceive, see, and do good. Thanks to this internal growth, a person can discern between good and evil, virtue and vice, as well as that which is neither. For Plato, true virtue lies in knowledge. But she first signifies comfort in walking, and then the eternal unimpeded flow of the good soul. (Kratil, 415d). This transition from easy movement to flying corresponds to the soul’s emergence from the cave and its ascent into the realm of light, which it achieves driven by the desire for perfection.
For Plato, knowledge is true virtue. It first signifies comfort in walking, and then the eternal unimpeded flow of the good soul. This transition from easy movement to flying corresponds to the soul’s emergence from the cave and its ascent into the realm of light, which it achieves driven by the desire for perfection.
Plato, however, also speaks of virtue as habit, but such virtue is not an inherent property of a person. If a person only acts well out of habit, without it arising from knowledge, their behavior will be merely a reflection of the surroundings, because such a way of acting is not characteristic of a person themselves. In other words, virtue acquired through upbringing is unstable and easily disappears from the soul, so it must be anchored to the soul through dialectic, which is Plato’s way of saying It is not just a logical exercise, but a means of internal transformation.
Relying on opinions, a person acts like a blind person who perceives everything by touch. Such a person extrapolates their impressions of parts onto the whole and vice versa, not realizing that everything they perceive as separate is just a part of a whole. They can only move freely in the space they are accustomed to, and if their space changes, they start stumbling and desperately trying to reduce everything new to what is already familiar to them. And just as a blind person must realize that they are blind in order to regain their sight, an ignorant person must become aware of their ignorance to acquire knowledge. Acknowledging this is the beginning of the philosophical path – the path of returning to oneself and gaining control over oneself.
A philosopher must practice practical virtue that leads to a moral way of life, and contemplative virtue that leads to true knowledge. In this way, they achieve wisdom that makes them similar to gods.
Lost clarity Wholeness
The purification of the soul occurs under the protection of Apollo – the deity that represents unity and completeness (of man and the world), harmony and order. According to Plato, Apollo has four functions, four actions that he governs and manifests to everyone: music, the gift of prophecy, the art of healing, and the skill of the bow. (Cratylus, 405a). Each of these functions is connected to the restoration of the initial purity and wholeness of the soul. As the leader of the Muses and together with them, he is a symbol of fervent longing and the pursuit of philosophical wisdom. (Cratylus, 406a).
The aspiration for unity and wholeness, the search for the universal in the multitude, the ascent from the apparent to true virtue, from the sensory world to the world of ideas and their cause – the Good – all of this is the main task of the philosopher and the pledge of his liberation.
In the Orphic tradition, this corresponds to the resurrection of Dionysus, whose savior and rejuvenator is Apollo, who gathers Dionysus into a whole and brings him back to life. The descent of the deity into matter and the loss of initial purity and wholeness. The symbolism of fragmentation is described by Titans tearing it apart.
The human soul is made of Titan’s ash burned by Zeus. It contains two principles within itself: the divine and the titanic. The titanic principle symbolizes instinctive forces that torment and crush the soul. The Dionysian principle makes the soul immortal and similar to the gods, but it needs to be separated from everything physical (titanic), purified, and restored to its lost wholeness.
A similar thought about lost unity is given by Plato in Symposium, where one of Socrates’ interlocutors recounts a myth according to which every human being is only half of a whole. In ancient times, people had four arms, four legs, and two faces. Possessing great strength, they attacked the gods themselves who, not wanting to destroy the human race, decided to divide them into two. And since then, every person seeks their lost half.
In one of the keys, this myth indicates that the feeling of incompleteness, divided consciousness, and duality is inherent to man. There is something within us that we are not aware of and do not control. This can be called the subconscious, and it is a part of the soul that has creative abilities and to which we ascend in moments of inspiration. Returning from there, we create works that surpass us.
Philosophical Eros
The soul occupies a central position between the sensory and intelligible world, which makes it similar to Eros – one of the geniuses who fulfill a mediating function between gods and humans.
Eros is the son of Poros (wealth) and Penia (poverty), and the soul is in some sense their daughter. Like Eros, she is also poor and therefore strives to find something that can give meaning to her existence, such as wealth, fame, happiness, knowledge of truth, or anything else that humans value. She moves from one goal to another, from one happiness to another, and this movement has no beginning or end.
Love is not just a desire for eternal possession of good or happiness. It is in its nature to immortalize itself, giving birth to. In the physical and spiritual sphere; it must give birth to beauty, both physically and spiritually.
Just as one can be physically pregnant, one can also be spiritually pregnant. Thanks to giving birth, mortal beings participate in immortality: the body – by perpetuating the human race, and the soul – by being born in the spiritual sphere, both within and outside of oneself.
Philosophical Eros is the ability to conceive spiritually and give birth spiritually, to liberate from the center of the soul, emanating beauty, goodness, and justice, just as the Sun emanates light, illuminating and giving life to everything that exists.
But the soul is also rich because what it seeks and strives for, it ultimately finds within itself.
Similar to Eros, it is without a home, without peace, always searching for something. It loves, and that love is a desire to master what is eternally beautiful. It longs for beauty, first discovering it in the sensory world, and then, as its eyes open, in the spiritual world. Similar to Eros, it is neither immortal nor mortal, in one and the same day it can die. Ah, once again, the dawn is born.
She dies when she looks only towards the ground, when she forgets her divine nature and strives for fulfillment through transient material goods, succumbing to the power of the body. To die, for the soul, means to fall into the misery of ignorance, while to be born again and live means to awaken in the realm of the spiritual.
The word “poros” means not only abundance but also a bridge, crossing something, a path and a means by which we reach a goal. In the Symposium, Poros appears as the son of the goddess Metis, intelligence and divine wisdom, and as it is known, Athena, the embodiment of wisdom, is the daughter of that goddess. Together, Athena and Poros are wisdom and the path that leads to that wisdom.
Philosophy is the love of wisdom, and a philosopher is a person who loves wisdom. They find themselves between ignorance and wisdom. Unlike the ignorant, the philosopher knows that their soul is not yet beautiful, good, or just, and this knowledge of their own imperfection turns into longing, a fervent desire for wisdom – the most beautiful of all things that exist. Love is the answer. There is always a movement towards what is missing, a longing for eternal possession of the object of our love. It is what disturbs the soul and consumes it more strongly as it gets closer to the chosen goal. Love gives wings to the soul and elevates it to the realm where it, together with the gods, contemplates the world of ideas.
But love is not just a desire for eternal possession of good or happiness. In its nature, it has a desire to perpetuate itself, giving birth in the physical and spiritual sphere; as Plato says, it must give birth to beauty, both physical and spiritual.
And just as one can be pregnant physically, one can also be pregnant spiritually. Thanks to giving birth, one participates mortally in the immortal: the body – through the continuation of the human race, and the soul – through birth in the spiritual sphere, both within and outside itself. Philosophical Eros is the ability to conceive spiritually and give birth spiritually, to emanate beauty, goodness, and justice from the center of the soul, just as the Sun emanates light, illuminating and giving life to everything that exists.
Everyone must go through this process on their own. And through childbirth, one can give birth to their own immortality. But birth is only possible in beauty and by being in touch with beauty. The atmosphere of spirituality encourages the soul to give birth, and that is why the world that surrounds us is important. So when one approaches beauty, the soul is blessed and overflows with joy and seasoning and gives birth; and when one approaches ugliness, it shrinks and coils in displeasure and sadness and does not give birth, but struggles to restrain the birth. (The Symposium, 206d).
The proximity of the spiritual returns the soul to itself. By observing inner beauty, it gives birth to beauty and makes life beautiful (gives beauty to life). Spiritual seeking is not some theoretical exploration or internal emotional experience. By observing the beautiful, the soul gives birth to true virtue; by ascending the steps of beauty, from the beauty of things to the beauty of nature and laws, and further – towards the beauty of knowledge, and then towards the very Good, it gradually overcomes the abyss that separates it from divine wisdom. (The Symposium, 211e). It loves, and its love elevates it towards God, perfects it, creates it The tiny figure inside a human, a true philosopher who becomes a mediator between gods and humans – Eros – who connects the beginning of the journey with its destination, mortal and immortal, a person who loves God and humanity equally.
Philosopher in the face of life and death
For Plato, philosophy is not a profession, but a calling, not just a formal and fragmented investigation of these or those questions, but a focus on the essential. It is not an escape from life into the world of thoughts or abandoning social problems, but a fervent effort to transform both the individual and society.
Philosophy is also self-knowledge, knowledge of one’s immortal nature that, depending on the level of purification, begins to shine more and more strongly through what is fused with the soul. It is the search for an answer to the question “What is man?”, but the answer to that question cannot be found in books or by analyzing ourselves as we are now. That answer comes as we ascend towards the sources that lie beyond the boundaries of life and death; however, in the meantime we must strive to create In the climb, a philosopher must always think about both oneself and others.
Those who are truly dedicated to philosophy, as Plato says, naturally deal with only dying and death. (Phaedo, 64a). Thus, the life of a philosopher, which consists of self-knowledge, seeking the true measure, and contemplating death, is realized in accordance with the three pieces of advice written on the walls of Apollo’s temple in Delphi.
Reflection on death and the transient nature of life occupies an important place in the spiritual practice of various philosophical-mystical and religious teachings. A philosopher thinks about death, turning it into an ally rather than an enemy of their research.
To think of death in reality means to focus on life as a possibility to enrich and fulfill existence with meaning. Not being afraid of death means not being afraid of life nor of all those trials that destiny exposes us to. All in all, the only thing a person can lose is not life, because it continues even after death, but rather the most valuable thing one can possess. Duje – one can “lose” their soul, and that is something to be feared more than anything else.
Today, when philosophy approaches metaphysical questions very cautiously (because metaphysics is not possible as a science), we are afraid to talk about the soul, death, or God, and about all the things that go beyond the limits of the sensory world and its truth. If atheism and materialism were more theoretical in the 19th century, they have now become a way of life. A person who lives in sensory truth is not interested in anything beyond the senses. Such an interest for him is a delusion and a remnant of the past. We will not judge here the consequences of such a viewpoint. They are visible to everyone. We will only notice that everything that is considered a delusion today can become the truth tomorrow, and what is held as the truth today can become a lie. Skepticism and cynicism, relativism of ethical and aesthetic values, individualism and disbelief have long played leading roles in the theater of life. We encounter all this to a lesser extent even in Athens in the time of Socrates, who opposed the sophists; they They claimed that man is the measure of all things and that the truth of one is no less true than the truth of another.
Unlike ancient Greece, there are no philosophical schools today and most philosophers research in solitude. Today, we need a more practical approach that could bring philosophy closer to the person who does not rule complex concepts and definitions of academic philosophy, an approach that would transform philosophy into a way of life based on setting examples and education through examples.
According to Plato, one of the tasks of philosophy is education, and this education must not be based on persuasion. What we want to awaken in souls cannot be accomplished through persuasion alone. and others, we must achieve ourselves in our own lives. The best education is an education based on an example that can be imitated. Therefore, a good educator for both individuals and society can only be a person who lives a moderate and wise way of life. If a young soul, a soul that explores, does not learn moderation from the moderate, courage from the brave, wisdom from the wise, it will grow left to itself and often become prey to its own ignorance and bodily instincts.
Throughout his life, Socrates called on his fellow citizens to take care of their souls, and the main goal of his conversations was a desire to awaken their souls, to bring unrest into them and to encourage man to do something good for himself. It is not enough to doubt, one needs to take a step that leads from ignorance to deeper understanding. The recognition that our beliefs are wrong, that we do not know the truth, must lead to its search. Truth sets a man free and only it can make life happy. Truth is not a formal concept. something that exists outside of man and has no connection to his soul. Man approaches truth to the extent that it gains clearer outlines and form within himself. According to Proclus, God is equally present in all things, but not everything is equally present in God. Similarly, truth is found in everything, there are no two truths, but everyone must make an effort to discover it within themselves and around them. By knowing oneself, we know the world. By knowing the world, we know ourselves.