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published on July 24, 2015
James M. Ambury
Plato’s Conception of Soul as Intelligent Self-Determination
This paper articulates two seemingly distinct but interrelated conceptions of soul in the Platonic corpus: soul as self-mover (the ontological soul) and soul as self-ruler (the ethical soul). It argues that Plato conceives of soul as a principle of intelligent self-determination. The dialogues in principal focus are the two in which the ontological soul and ethical soul are most manifest: the Phaedrus and the Laws. The article concludes with a brief reflection, by way of the Timaeus, on the relationship between soul thus understood and Plato’s sense of the importance of the care of the soul for the good life.