Philosophy and Souls-- Adele Haun

Philosophy and Souls

Baginni stated almost immediately in his book that Atheists don’t believe in souls, and as someone who is still exploring labels and beliefs, it stuck with me because souls are something that I do believe in. I couldn’t stop thinking about this statement and wish I was smart enough or had the proper knowledge to explain why I feel as though souls are real, at least for me. 

What I do have, however, is a pretty good essay-- if I can say so for myself-- regarding Plato’s 5 types of souls and governments. I wrote this essay my freshman year, before Breonna Taylor was killed, before Covid, before the 2020 election, and I think that the points made in the essay stand true to today, as well as showcase an example of how souls are a natural phenomenon in a characteristic/personality kind of way. I can dig out the essay if you’d like to read it in full, but I’ll summarize it for now with additions for our sake. 

Plato’s The Republic tells us about the 5 types of constitutions and the souls that correlate to them, that run them. It’s a devolution from an Aristocracy to a Despotism, and if you just read it blindly, it can seem a little frightening in a way. If you were full of nationalism, you would definitely not wish to see it compared to America as we know it, but I was able to point out examples to three of the constitutions in America’s history. 

From the top, or the best, we have an Aristocracy, run by the wisdom lovers. They’re the best at war and in philosophy, but Plato says the only way to achieve it is through marriage by lottery. Now, I’m not sure I believe that, but in its entirety, it sounds like the picture of a utopian society of which I couldn’t and still cannot think of an example-- especially in America. 

Next we devolve into a Timocracy, run by those with the need to achieve honor and is therefore dominated by the motives of ambition. Plato uses Sparta as an example as a Timocracy prefers war over peace as a way to achieve honor. Looking back at this moment, I think we could see bits and pieces of Timocracy in America, or maybe simply those with a timocratical point of view rather. It does seem as though America has a bit of a superiority complex with its military and we do from time to time see more people choosing war over peace; however, I think these are just anomalies in the system. Every single individual isn’t born with the same thought processes or opinions, so Plato’s insinuation that everyone falls within these guidelines is a little crazy. 

However, this is where I began drawing more specific examples from America. The middle of the list is an Oligarchy, which comes to an end when the poverty stricken band together to end the rich. My parallel to America with this rule is technically pre-America. This parallel is the reason the pilgrims fled Europe for America. They were being taxed on nearly everything imaginable which was bleeding them dry and in turn caused them to flee to create what is the next and second worst form on the list-- the Democracy. 

A democracy is said to be achieved by force or fear. It is driven by people who have a love and desire for freedom. The parallel here might seem obvious, but the murder of Native Americans and forced moving of them from thier native lands to then occupy the space and call it their own. I find that this parallel is the most obvious because it is the most striking. If you look at the things Plato said about the democracy and the freedom-loving souls that rule it, it practically spells out The United States of America. 

To humbly quote myself, from my essay, “Plato refers to a Democracy as an agreeable form of anarchy, and I think he does that because it is ruled by the freedom lovers. A child, who is a lover of money, grows up to father a child who loves his freedom by raising him in his ways of fear of poverty. When the freedom-loving son grows up, he realizes there is no need to fear, and a constitution ripe with liberty is born. In a democracy, people are taught and believe that liberty is the noblest possession which makes it the only constitution fit to live in; yet, the constant strive for the good of liberty will cause them to neglect everything else and lead them to despotism- the worst and fifth form of government.” 

Now, in my essay, at that point in time of the world and in my life and opinions, I used this despotic government, ruled by those enslaved to their own appetites, without harsh discipline, and compared it to “how sensitive our generation is getting” and “how parents don’t discipline their kids anymore.” These are things that could still be seen as true from certain perspectives, sure; however, I’d like to make some amendments on those thoughts as I’ve grown a lot in the years since I wrote this essay, and I think this is where we can see the most evidence in a natural soul phenomenon. 

I’ll start with this: Plato says that despotism inevitably springs from the democratic commonwealth “...putting forth a single champion of their interests, whom they nurse to greatness.” The footnote tied to the statement makes the claim that Aristotle observed many despots rose from demagogues, which many people would tag former president Trump as being. Which seems almost inevitable that, if one was taking Plato’s 5 to heart, America is in the 5th and worst form of government. 

Furthermore, to brush up on my previous statements in the essay and tie them into more “accurate” statements regarding a naturalistic soul, maybe I took Plato at face value and didn’t think into his quote enough. I used his quote “the citizens are so sensitive that they resent the slightest application of control as intolerable tyranny, and in their resolve to have no master they end by disregarding the law...” to mean that our generation is too sensitive; however, maybe it’s pointing to the citizens coming to realize that their government is the master with a tyrannical power over them, and not liking it. Maybe it’s pointing to people realizing some laws don’t make sense, some laws aren’t for the good of every single person, or just maybe it could be pointing to the rise of evidence in police brutality. Maybe Plato wasn’t discussing sensitivity in a negative/emotional connotation but using the word to mean “more aware.” Similarly, maybe the spiel he made on being infected with anarchy and saying children were acting as parents and vice versa was simply a different take on how rabies affects animals-- in the sense of how anarchy would change an individual.  

Without rambling on further, I simply think that a natural soul phenomenon is something that maybe could be discussed more, delved into farther. Maybe it’s science and chemicals that make Plato’s distinctions accurate and evident years later-- to be generous-- or maybe it is something else, more mystical, that hasn’t been discussed or thought about yet. 

Discussion Questions: 

• Are there any other examples that you could think of pertaining to the 5 and America as we know it? Or examples to go against the 5? 

• If asked to choose which of the 5 governments you think America is in currently, what would you say?

• Do you have any thoughts regarding Plato’s idea that I might have missed?