Author(s)

RuoNan Liu

Affiliation(s)

Keystone Academy, Beijing 101138, China.

Corresponding Author

RuoNan Liu

ABSTRACT

In his later works, Symposium, Plato begins his exploration of love and friendship. However, two critical questions remain unaddressed: where does the feeling of love originate in one’s soul, and what parts of the soul are prone to receiving, expressing, and partaking in love? This paper seeks to answer these questions by referencing his earlier work, Timaeus, which delves more deeply into the nature of the soul. By integrating insights from Timaeus with the concept of love as presented in the Symposium, the aim is to explain the division of love and its feelings with respect of the tripartite soul model. It concludes that love is distributed across all three parts of the soul: the mind serves as the rational judge of love, the heart embodies the uncontrolled spirit of love, and the body represents the appetitive desires associated with love in its physical manifestations.

KEYWORDS

Love; Tripartite Soul; Senses; Reason; Spirit; Appetite

CITE THIS PAPER

RuoNan Liu. Plato on love: ration, spirit, and appetite. Journal of Religion, Ethics, and Philosophy. 2025, 2(1): 37-40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/jrep3010.

REFERENCES

[1] Roberts A. The Influence of Plato's Symposium: Love and Beauty Throughout Media & Culture. Young Historians Conference. Young Historians Conference, OR. 2024, May 3.

[2] Sheffield F C C. Plato: The Symposium. (M. C. Howatson, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2008. DOI: 10.1017/CBO978051181303.

[3] Plato. Symposium. Chicago: Chicago University Press. 2001.

[4] Yong P. Socrates and the Limits of Love: The Erotic Philosophy of Plato’s Symposium – Le Premier état. Premieretat.com. 2022, May 15.

[5] Plato. Timaeus (P. Kalkavage, Trans.; 2nd ed.). New York, Liberal Arts Press. 2016.

[6] Siewert C. Plato's division of reason and appetite. History of Philosophy Quarterly. 2001, 18(4): 329-352.

[7] Campbell D R. Self‐motion and cognition: Plato's theory of the soul. The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 2021, 59(4): 523-544. DOI: 10.1111/sjp.12429.

[8] Singpurwalla R. The tripartite theory of Motivation in Plato’s Republic. Philosophy Compass. 2010, 5(11): 880-892. DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-9991.2010.00343.x.

[9] Wilburn J. The Spirited Part of the Soul in Plato’s Timaeus. Journal of the History of Philosophy. 2014, 52(4): 627-652. DOI: 10.1353/hph.2014.0084.

[10] Lorenz H. The cognition of appetite in Plato’s Timaeus. In Plato and the divided self (pp. 238-258). Cambridge University Press. 2012. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511977831.014.

[11] Camparo S R. Plato, the brain, and the soul: Further research into neural correlates for plato’s tripartite soul. Modern Psychological Studies. 2020, 25(2): 7.

[12] Eidson R. The Philosophy of Love: Plato’s Symposium. Simply Urban. 2020, March 31.

[13] Stamatiadis A A. Twin Venuses: A Diachronic Approach. Discentes. 2022, July 18.

[14] Hunter R. Plato's Symposium. Oxford University Press. 2004. DOI: 10.1017/S0075426900008387.

[15] Lesher J H. A Course on the Afterlife of Plato's "Symposium". The Classical Journal. 2004, 100(1): 75-85.

[16] Smith N D. Plato's analogy of soul and state. The Journal of Ethics. 1999, 3(1): 31-49. DOI: 10.1023/A:1026402630245.