Rational Part Of The Soul example essay topic

Plato and Aristotle were great Philosophers whose philosophy made a great impact. Both Philosophers had their own ideas as to the world and how we should live in it. Their philosophies where similar, yet had their own ideas that made them unique. Aristotle was a student of Plato, which in turn was a student of Socrates.

Plato (428 BC-328 BC) a student of Socrates also know as an idealist, had four basic premises which include the following; that there are two worlds, the super sensible and the sensible, the concept that the soul is immortal, the recollection theory and the participation theory. His ethics include the theory of rational thinking. Plato also wrote several books including The Republic, which is the publishing Plato is most recognized for. Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) a student of Plato and a materialist believed that all men by nature desire to know. His metaphysics conclude that there are four causes of change and that matter remains the same and form changes.

His philosophy stated that there are two types of change, the unnatural and the natural. His ethics include the notion that man is alive because he seeks happiness and that the soul has two parts, the irrational and the rational. The only writings that exist on his philosophy are based on the notes of his students who attended his school of higher learning. His writings include The Metaphysics, which is one of the most recognized books on his philosophy.

The first of Plato's four basic premises is that he believed that there are two worlds. The super sensible world, which contains the forms and ideas (according to Plato-Knowledge never changes) is what your soul is before you are born. The sensible world is where your soul is in after you are born. The second is the idea that the soul is immortal.

Before your born into the body your soul is in the super sensible world but when you are born into the body you forget all the knowledge in your soul. He suggest that the soul does not die it simply forgets the forms and ideas. The third premise is the Recollection Theory. This suggests that you will always remember the knowledge in your soul. The forth premises is that Participation Theory. This theory suggests that everything in the super sensible world participates in the sensible world.

Unlike Plato, Aristotle believed that the world of the sensible is the real world. He believed that change is reality. The first of his four causes of change is material. He suggests that you ask; what is it that changes?

The second cause is forma. The question here is; what dose it change to? The third cause is efficiency, which asks; what makes it change? The final cause asks, why dose it change? He suggests that man must ask themselves these questions in order to find their reality.

Aristotle suggests that there are two types of changes. The first being the unnatural, which is something induced by and outside agent for example a tree because of it's wood is turned into a piece of furniture. The second is the natural, which contains no external agent, for example an acorn growing on a tree. He believed that matter remains the same and the form changes. The form comes before the matter, unlike Plato that suggested that forms and ideas never changed. Plato's ethics include the reasoning that the rational soul is the driver of your life.

The rational soul thinks remembers, believes and is the leader of the other two parts, which are the spirited and the passionate. The spirited makes a person cowardly, rash and harsh. These are acts of weakness. The passionate includes desires, which by nature is a weakness. He suggests that all humans have these three parts in the soul but only one dominates. He concludes that only with reason do you find the idea of "the good".

Aristotle disagrees with Plato's ethics. He believed that man must do "the good" instead of trying to find it. He believed that the function of a man is to seek happiness. He concludes that the soul is made up of two parts, the Rational and the Irrational. The rational soul contains virtue, the Golden Mean, which suggest that humans must know when to feel on which occasion.

The irrational soul contains two forces, love and hate a vice (a vice is a defect or excess). Like Plato, Aristotle believed the driver of the soul should be the rational part of the soul. Both philosophers had strong beliefs about the world and how people should live in it, however I tend to agree with Aristotle. I believe that change is everywhere and is the reality of man.

I agree with Aristotle when he suggests that all men desire to know. It's the wisdom that we as human's desire that makes us succeed in life and it's trials and tribulations. In Aristotle's ethics he suggest that man seeks knowledge. I think that man as a defense against the world desires to know all they can in order to live a better life.

It's that desire that leads humans to do "the good" the Aristotle talks about in this ethics. I think that as men as a whole try to live their lives rationally although that facts that the human race is not perfect, some of us act irrational on occasion. The irrational world does contain two very large temptations, which can cause some havoc but for the most part I try to stay away from being irrational. In conclusion Plato and Aristotle both had some very radical ideas on how humans should live their lives.

Both philosophies have strong ideas and maybe if we were living in their time it would have been easy to adapt to these ideas but in this day and age humans tend to have a mind that does not do well with radical ideas such as these. It would be interesting to see what these two philosopher would say if alive in today's ever changing world. How would the ideas of the rational and the irrational souls change? Or would they change at all?