Plato and the Divided Self

by Rachel Barney (Editor), Tad Brennan (Editor), Charles Brittain (Editor)

Overview

Plato's account of the tripartite soul is a memorable feature of dialogues like the Republic, Phaedrus and Timaeus: it is one of his most famous and influential yet least understood theories. It presents human nature as both essentially multiple and diverse – and yet somehow also one – divided into a fully human 'rational' part, a lion-like 'spirited part' and an 'appetitive' part likened to a many-headed beast. How these parts interact, how exactly each shapes our agency and how they are affected by phenomena like eros and education is complicated and controversial. The essays in this book investigate how the theory evolves over the whole of Plato's work, including the Republic, Phaedrus and Timaeus, and how it was developed further by important Platonists such as Galen, Plutarch and Plotinus. They will be of interest to a wide audience in philosophy and classics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521899666
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/16/2012
Pages:	410
Product dimensions:	6.18(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Rachel Barney holds the Canada Research Chair in Classical Philosophy at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Names and Nature in Plato's Cratylus (2001).

Tad Brennan is Professor of Philosophy and Classics at Cornell University. His books include Ethics and Epistemology in Sextus Empiricus (1999), The Stoic Life (2005) and Simplicius on Epictetus, Volumes 1 and 2 (2002), translated with Charles Brittain.

Charles Brittain is Professor of Classics and Philosophy at Cornell University. His books include Philo of Larissa: The Last of the Academic Sceptics (2001) and Cicero: On Academic Scepticism (2006).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements and notes; Editors' introduction Rachel Barney, Tad Brennan and Charles Brittain; Part I. Transitions to Tripartition: 1. Enkrateia and the partition of the soul in the Gorgias Louis-André Dorion; 2. From the Phaedo to the Republic: philosophers, non-philosophers, and the possibility of virtue Iakovos Vasiliou; 3. The soul as a one and a many: Republic 436a8–439d9 Eric Brown; Part II. Moral Psychology and the Parts of the Soul: 4. Erôs before and after tripartition Frisbee Sheffield; 5. Speaking with the same voice as reason: personification in Plato's psychology Rachana Kamtekar; 6. Psychic contingency in the Republic Jennifer Whiting; 7. Curbing one's appetites in Plato's Republic James Wilberding; 8. The nature and object of the spirited part of the soul Tad Brennan; 9. How to see an unencrusted soul: Republic X 611b–612a Raphael Woolf; Part III. Developments in Late Plato: 10. Pictures and passions in the Philebus and Timaeus Jessica Moss; 11. The cognition of appetite in Plato's Timaeus Hendrik Lorenz; 12. Soul and state in Plato's laws Luc Brisson; Part IV. Parts of Soul in the Platonic Tradition: 13. Plutarch on the division of the soul Jan Opsomer; 14. Galen and the tripartite soul Mark Schiefsky; 15. Plotinus and Plato on soul and action Eyjólfur K. Emilsson.

Editorial Reviews

"...This excellent volume, which was edited by Rachel Barney, Tad Brennan, and Charles Brittain... usefully includes an index locorum, footnotes, and an extensive bibliography.... This volume represents an invaluable contribution to the field of Platonic moral psychology. The essays it contains are filled with fresh ideas, insights, and challenges, and they are sure to stimulate new debates in the ongoing scholarly discussion of Plato’s views on the soul.... worthwhile for anyone with an interest in Platonic psychology.... This collection is, as already indicated, outstanding, and it will undoubtedly become necessary reading for anyone considering Platonic moral psychology for years to come."
—Joshua Wilburn, University of Victoria, Philosophy in Review

From the Publisher