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 basic method, however, is codification and analysis. He examines the structure of the issues involved and analyzes the answers that can be derived to the basic questions in each subject. Aristotle often approaches a subject in disagreement with the prevailing notions of Plato's Academy and thus argues against the existing system of belief, while in other cases he examines the structure of a subject and uses this as a springboard to make determination...