The soul-body relationship

The soul-body relationship has been addressed by a number of philosophers over the centuries an remains a key question. Plato held that the soul and body were separate and that the soul was released from the body at death. In the Phaedo, Socrates first argues that death releases the soul from the body, an opportunity for the true philosopher. The body is described as a fragile thing which houses the soul only until the soul can be freed:

For the body is a source of endless trouble to us by reason of the mere requirement of food; and is liable also to diseases which overtake and impede us in the search after true being. . . (Buchanan 203).

Following both Plato and Aristotle in some degree, Boethius offered a Christian conception:

Human souls are of necessity more free when they continue in the contemplation of the mind of God and less free when they descend to bodies, and less still when they are imprisoned in earthly flesh and blood (Boethius 149).

This is a form of the mind-body problem, and for Boethius, freedom is to be found in a separation from the earthly flesh, with the appetites of the body determining our behavior while the rational part of the mind is free. Aristotle addressed the issue and argued with Plato's conception of the soul as an immaterial entity separate from the body.

Aristotle approaches different subject matter with a similar methodology while also varying his method to the degree necessary to cope with the different subject matter. His ba

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s, or as some special substance; and 2) the soul is seen as the harmony of the body. The first argument suggests that the soul has the power of self-movement; Aristotle counters that the soul cannot have any movement at all. This is because the theories stated that the soul would have some sort of natural motion, and Aristotle says that if this were the case, it would have to have a natural place toward which it would be moved. This followed Aristotle's theory of motion, and it would be impossible for there to be such a place. The second theory, the harmony theory, is addressed by Aristotle through an experiment. He says it means that the soul is the ratio of the elements that go into making up the body; he says that because the ratio of elements in bone is different for that in flesh, there would have to be as many souls in the body as there are different kinds of tissues. The issue becomes bound with how different philosophers have envisioned the mind as well, whether as part of the body or part of the soul. Protagoras tried to explain the ideas of the human mind "psycho-genetically," declaring that the entire psychical life of the human being was such that it consisted only in perceptions. This was a form of sensualis

Category: Philosophy - T