Does a Monster Rule Your Life?

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What is the human soul? What does it consist of? How does justice or injustice effect the nature of the soul? These questions are what have been plaguing people for centuries. Plato attempts to answer these questions in his book Republic. Throughout the book, he utilizes many analogies to try to explain his point of view on this topic. However, the one analogy that truly sticks out in this book is the one of the multicolored beast, the lion, and the human being. This paper will attempt to reason with these questions and Plato's view of the answers to these questions.

In the Republic, Plato introduces a few creatures. The first which is a "multicolored beast with a ring of many heads that it can grow and change at will--some from gentle, some from savage animals."(588c) The second creature to be introduced is a lion and then a human. He then proceeds to mesh all of these creatures into one so that they grow naturally together, but to the eye the fusion of creatures appears to be a human. This is Plato's description of the human soul. The multicolored beast represents the appetitive part of the soul. Plato makes this the appetitive part because the savage heads represent the cruelty and greed in humans while the gentle ones stand for the goodness and mercy that also exists in humans. The appetitive part of the soul is the one that wants physical desires like money, power, and sex when left without something to keep it in check. The lion symbolizes the spirited aspect of the soul because the lion is a strong being that is thought to be the king of the jungle in a Spartan sort of way. The human being symbolizes the rational part of the soul because of the fact that Plato believed that only human beings were capable of logic and the notion of justice.

Plato reasons that if a soul is to be in its best condition one should,

insure that the human being within this human being has the most control; second that he should take care of the many-headed beast as a farmer does his animals, feeding and domesticating the gentle heads and preventing the savage ones from growing; and, third, that he should make the lion's nature his ally, care for the community of all his parts, and bring them up in such a way that they will be friends with each other and himself. (58b)Custom writing service can write essays on Does a Monster Rule Your Life?

If one is to do this, then the soul will grow equally and be in its best condition. Reason and justice will rule making moderation the key in every aspect of life. This balance of all the creatures is essential for if one is

to feed the multiform beast well and make it strong, and also the lion and all that pertains to him...[while] starv[ing] and weaken[ing] the human being within, so that he is dragged along wherever either of the other two leads; and, third, to leave the parts to bite and kill one another rather than accustoming them to each other and making them friendly. (58a)

The savage heads would first kill its gentle heads and then battle the lion for control so that it would be able to gratify its pleasure in worldly ways. The lion would fight the savage headed beast fiercely for its own personal honor and power. These reasonings of Plato connect all the creatures together in such a way that the human being is the strongest and has the most control over the others because of his desire for justice and rational judgment calls while the others wish for their own individual gain instead of the purity of the soul.

The logic of Plato's reasoning is sensible. If the appetitive aspect of the soul rules one's life then they will only desire and appreciate the pleasures of life. The person ruled by this alone will have no desire to better himself. He will sacrifice not only the well being of his life but also the well being of others. Plato points this out in 58e when he questions,

can it profit anyone to aquire gold unjustly if, by doing so, he enslaves the best part of himself to the most vicious? If he got the gold by enslaving his son or daughter to savage and evil men, it wouldn't profit him, no matter how much gold he got. How, then, could he fail to be wretched if he pitilessly enslaves the most divine part of himself to the most godless and polluted one and accepts golden gifts in return for a more terrible destruction...?

He asserts that this lifestyle is the absolute worst because the one who is ruled by appetitive desires destroys himself and everyone and/or everything around him. He cares not for the quality of his life, only the quantity.

Plato's logic maintains that the life ruled by the spirited or lion aspect is not much better than the life of one ruled by appetitive desires. The one who leads this life only wishes for his personal honor and glory and yet again does not think of anyone but himself. Because of this desire for personal fame, the human being becomes selfish, obstinate, and petulant. "And aren't stubbornness and irritability condemned because they inharmoniously increase and stretch the lionlike and snakelike part?" (50b) When this part is increased, the thought of what is good for oneself and others diminishes and the only thought that remains is to be the best of everyone in physical accomplishments.

This logic insists that the only true, good way to lead one's life is in moderation. For moderation to occur, one must be ruled by the rational or human being part of the soul. When this is put into practice, one will appreciate the pleasures of the world and honor, but will not be enslaved by one or both of them. Instead, his life will be the most fulfilling for "he will always cultivate the harmony of his body for the sake of the consonance in his soul" (50d), "he'll look to the constitution within him and guard against disturbing anything in it, either by too much money or too little" (50e), and "he'll willingly share in and taste those [honors] that he believes will make him better, but he'll avoid any public or private honor that might overthrow the established condition of his soul." (5a) These quotations do nothing but exemplify how only moderation, through the rational aspect of the soul, can lead to the good life. But what is the good life? According to Plato, the good life consists of not only moderation in everyday life, but also to be able understand the universal values in their truest form. He gives the reader a diagram in 510a of how one is supposed to work their way up to the good life. The final products of these steps are the knowledge of the forms in their purest state and a clear understanding of dialectic. When one has these things in a moderate life, he or she tuly lives the good life of moderation and justice.

Plato's view on the soul is interesting to say the least. His comparison of the different aspects of human nature/soul to a human being, a lion, and a multicolored beast are not only sensible but creative and interesting as well. He explains his points well in the examples that he gives of all the possibilities of lifestyles ruled by each of the parts of the soul. The strengths of Plato's view are that he clearly defines each aspect of the soul, gives illustrations of each quality of life, and then logically and soundly determine why the rational way of thought and being is best. The weakness of his logic comes from when Plato states that, "it is better to be ruled by divine reason, preferably within himself and his own, otherwise imposed from without, so that as far as possible all will be alike and friends, governed by the same thing." (50d) Yes, it might be possible for all people to be ruled by divine reason, however no one will ever be alike in terms of what they feel is best for the greater good. For example in today's society there is a large debate on whether or not abortions should be legal. People who are pro-life declare that abortions are murder of helpless unborn children. People who are pro-life claim that first, a fetus' heart does not start to beat until after the first month and that there are many children in the world now who are unwanted therefore their quaulity of life is poor with no hope for it getting better. People ruled by reasoning argue for each of the sides and they both make valid points. Who is right and who is wrong? It is all a matter of opinion yet this debate has been going on for decades with each side claiming that they are in the right. However, to me, there is no other rational way than Plato's logic to characterize such an intangible thing as the soul. His reasoning is almost completely sound because he incorporates all aspects of human behavior such as greed/gluttony (appetitive), being power-hungry/the best of the best (spirited), as well as being rational in thought and behavior (rational).

So what truly is the human soul? No one but God can know the answer to that question, but I believe that Plato's view of what the soul is and how it is affected by human judgment and action is the closest to perfect that any human being has ever come up with. His logic is a good place to start thought on what the soul is and how it affects one's life even if someone does not agree with his view. He raises many questions of value that many people today do not think of in our modern world. Plato's views on human beings' behavior and soul are in more need of now than ever even if only to make a person sit back and question his or her own life for a minute.

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