dualism

• what is dualism?

  the view that there is a separate "soul" within the body (dual=2)
• what is Plato?

  a dualist
• for Plato, what is there a world of?


  ideal forms, separate from the world of sense perception
• what does Plato believe?

  that the soul and body are two separate substances that interact
• what does the soul belong to?

  a higher level of reality than the body
• the soul existed first and is more pure
• what does Plato describe physical matter as?

  "gross and unthinking"
• Plato argued that everything that exists must have an...?

  ideal "form" that first exists in the realm of ideas (spiritual realm)
• e.g, for every man, what must there have been?

  an ideal version of that man in an immaterial realm
• Plato believes that the relationship between the body and the soul is not a partnership BUT...?

  an imprisonment
• where is the soul from?

  the realm of the forms
• what has the soul been imprisoned in?

  the physical body
• the soul is more important than the body where it must has been imprisoned
• what does Plato believe the body is?

  the "source of endless trouble to us"
• why does Plato believe the body is the "source of endless trouble to us"?

  because its physical and mortal
• what does Plato believe the soul is?

  immortal, imperishable and unchanging. It's capable of true knowledge
• what is the soul divided into?

  3 parts
• what are the 3 parts that the soul is divided into?

  reason, thumbs (spiritual) and appetitive (desire)
• what analogy does Plato use to explain how the soul works?

  a charioteer with two horses
• one of the two horses behaves, what part of the soul does this represent?


  spirit
• whereas, one horse doesn't behave, which part of the soul does this represent?

  appetitive (desire)
• the soul works best when...?

  the charioteer is in charge
• which part of the soul does the charioteer represent?


  reason
• for Plato, what is a good person?


  one whose soul is properly balanced with reason in charge
• (Plato's two arguments in defence of his belief in the soul)Plato believes that we have what kind of knowledge?

  innate knowledge
• we can explain why people have a prior knowledge (in particular, innate knowledge), how?

  because our soul remembers it from the realms of the forms
• what is Plato's linguistic argument?

  there is a distinction between how we speak about ourselves and how we speak about our bodies
• explain the Plato's linguistic argument:


  describing ourselves = "I am thinking"

  describing our bodies = "I have a body"
• what does this suggest?

  that we are NOT our bodies and our bodies are not us, our souls are us
• for Plato, the soul is "eternal", so what will happen?


  it will survive our physical death (the soul will escape the body and return to the realm of the forms)
• what do Christians think this means?


  going to heaven
• what does Aristotle say about the soul?


  "to attain any assured knowledge about the soul is one of the most difficult things in the world"
• Aristotle argued that all living things have souls, and a creatures psyche is its what?


  "principle of life"
• what does a creatures psyche distinguish it from?

  a corpse or other inanimate things
• as well as having a psyche, what are they also capable of?

  rational thought
• Aristotle illustrates what he means with an analogy of what?

  an axe and an eye
• explain the analogy:

  if the body were an eye, the soul would be its ability to see and if the body were an axe then the soul would be its ability to chop
• therefore, because the soul and the body are interconnected and both essential for our identity, if there is life after death, what would it have to be?


  physical
• the soul is what makes a thing...?

  what it is
• the soul is expressed through the body therefore...?

  the two can never be separated as they are intrinsically linked