Plato’s Concept of the Soul and its Relationship with the Body Essay ex

Plato’s Concept of the Soul and its Relationship with the Body Plato’s theory of the body and soul originated from his earlier theories and dialogs, ‘the analogy of the cave’ and ‘the theory of forms’. Plato believed that the soul is immortal. That the soul existed before it came to the physical body, and it is still there when the body dies. This is a dualistic interpretation of the mind/body problem. Plato linked the soul to a charioteer in charge of two horses, the mind and the body, which are pulling in completely opposite directions. The soul wanting to go back to the world of the forms and the body wanting to enjoy the five sense plus pleasure. In Plato’s words - the body is the source of endless trouble†¦it fills us full of love and lust and fear and fancies of all kinds†¦and takes us away from all power of thinking at all. Therefore emphasised that the philosophers must live simply and avoid sensual pleasure so as to focus the mind on the soul and gain its knowledge. The analogy of the cave relates to the...