How did Plato conceive of the soul, and can his scattered statements be unified into a coherent psychological theory? Thirteen essays by international scholars examine key aspects of Plato's treatment of the soul - from perception and desire to its mathematical constitution - and shed light on his influence on later philosophy and psychology.
Although Plato is considered by many to be the »founder« of psychology, it is controversial to what extent Plato's various statements on the soul can be combined to form an actual psychological theory. In this volume, which stems from the 2024 Tübingen Platon-Tage, thirteen international researchers examine various aspects of Plato's treatment of the soul that can be called »psychological« in a narrower sense, such as his theory of perception, desire, pleasure, or imagination (
phantasia). Particular attention is paid to the question of the extent to which such phenomena are psychophysical, i.e., they concern not only the soul but also the body. In addition, there are contributions that seek to clarify what it means for Plato that the soul is a principle of life and also the ruler of the body and its dispositions and processes. Finally, several contributors address the question of the mathematical constitution of the soul in Plato and in the Ancient Academy. In doing so, the volume takes a fresh look at key Platonic texts that discuss phenomena of the soul, such as the
Phaedo, the
Theaetetus, the
Timaeus and the
Philebus, but also, for example, the
Sophist. As a result, several main trends emerge: for example, that for Plato the question of the role of the soul is closely linked to the question of the role of the body, and that the problem later addressed by Aristotle is strongly influenced by Plato, not only with regard to the status of the soul, but also with regard to the contribution of the body to the explanation of mental phenomena. Together, these findings provide a basis both for pursuing larger questions about Plato's psychology as a unified theory and for exploring his influence on later traditions, from Aristotelianism to the modern era.
Table of contents:
Klaus Corcilius, Irmgard Männlein, Samuel Meister: Vorwort zur Reihe „Tübinger Platon-Tage" -
Klaus Corcilius, Irmgard Männlein, Samuel Meister: Vorwort zum Band -
Klaus Corcilius, Samuel Meister: Einleitung - 1.
Mary Louise Gill: Plato on Perception and Judgment: Theaetetus 184-186 - 2.
Béatrice Lienemann: Plato on the Role of Perception in the Acquisition of Knowledge - 3.
Georgia Mouroutsou: The Analysis of Pleasure: Philebus and Timaeus - 4.
Samuel Meister: Plato's Account of Desire in the Philebus - 5.
Fiona Leigh: Phantasia in Plato's Sophist: an unAristotelian Precursor to Aristotle - 6.
Andrea Falcon: Soul, Life, and Living Beings in Plato's Timaeus - 7.
Riccardo Chiaradonna: Soul and Essence in the Phaedo: Socrates' Final Proof and Aristotle's Categories - 8.
Peter Oxenknecht: On the Meaning of αἰτία and Bringing. Participation, Mereological Predication and Property Transmission in Plato's Phaedo 96A-105D - 9.
Jan Szaif: The Philebus on the Source of Good Governance in the Soul - 10.
Klaus Corcilius: Compensating for Fragmentation. Philosophical Methods in Plato's Later Dialogues in Light of the Timaeus - 11.
Thomas Johansen: Motion in a Mathematical Cosmos. Plato's Timaeus on the Principles of Change - 12.
Susanna Kinzig: Xenocrates and the Soul as a Self-Moving Number in the Ancient Testimonies - 13.
Christoph Poetsch: Zum Konzept der Seele in der Alten Akademie. Ein Vergleich
