Plato, Freud and the Question of Nature of Mind - Essay Example

The Nature of Mind Abstract Two scholars, Plato (427-347 BC) and Freud (1856-1939) made immense contributions on the nature of mind. Writing from different times in history, the two scholars seemed to have used the word mind and soul interchangeably to mean the same thing. Their views of the nature of mind were an analysis to the psychological of reasoning. The view of the mind had indicated difference on the physical arrangement though with some striking similarities. Therefore, this paper will highlight on views of the two scholars, Plato and Freud, and then show their similarities on the nature of mind. Similarities between Plato and Freud on the Nature of Mind Two theorists, Plato (427-347) and Freud (1856-1939) made immense contributions concerning the nature of the human mind. The two theorists existed within different context but made scholastic assertions with some striking similarities. Interestingly, Plato’s developmental psychology talks about the mental health and pathology. On the other hand, Freud’s views answers the question of health by explaining that id, ego and superego were in disharmony because one suffered from neuroses (Olivier 83). The study of psyche is considered a form of science that emerged quite recently. The mention of psyche draws one’s attention to the 20th century great thinkers lke Plato and Freud, who are credited as the fathers of psychoanalysis and modern psychology. On the contrary, the term psyche originated in the ancient periods long before Freud and Plato came into existence. The term psyche is used in philosophy on a numner of occasions to mean spirit or breath. However, Freud’s works tend to link psyche with the brain. Plato’s works, on the other hand, tend to link the term to the soul (Flavell, 2004), a term that has lost meaning in contemporary sciencebecause it has metaphysical connotations. Plato’s question of how we know what underlies the fundamental question relating to the human psyche. One would wonder how humans know what to know. When one does not know how to play a musical instrument, he or she will have several questions aimed at understanding the tactics of playing the instrument. In the human psyche, plato questions the manner in which people know. The theory of justice informs psyche. This theory has six crucial elements, including principles, faculties, aspects, activities, levels, and instances. The nature and role of these elements have been characterized in such a way that the connotations of te terms largely relate to Plato’s text. Psychology has its roots in the greatest thinkers of the early days such as Plato, who believed that are born blank and can change in the course of life to anyting based on the environmental influences. Plato took to discovering the truth of human psyche and the maintenance of the soul. He philosophized through the Socrates teachings while using conceps such as metaphysics and the theory of forms. The Platonic dialogue, The Republic, gives a sholarly approach to to the early roots of psychology to the existance of modern psychoanalysis of Freud. In this analogue, Plato asserts that human is made of the soul. He viewed the soul as immortal, and explained the concepts of the mortal body. In his theory, Plato views death as a process by which the soul is released from the mortal body. The Platonic theory asserts that the human soul exists in three divisions and he explained them as, the Reason, the Spirit and the Appetite, each with its own reasoning powers and goals. In his explanation, Reason functions to seek the absolute truth and to pursue the supper good for the person as a whole. Spirit is associated with love of honor, praise and winning while Appetitive soul judges by appearance and seeks human desires such as food, water and sex among others. Accordingly, Plato asserts that, for harmony to occur within the soul, Reason must take control of the Appetite and the Spirit. Here, Reason regulates Appetite in judging its true desires and training Spirit on the need to serve its goals. Therefore, reason assumes the role of moral judgment within the human soul. Among the astonishing facts of human species is the ability to interpret the world from the moral perspective. Put differently, the human species can evaluate objects and events (and even themselves) not solely based on the pragmatic goodness of badness but the moral goodness or badness as well. This applies in respect of well known norms of the right and the wrong. Arguing from the moral perspective, human beings discuss, contemplate, and debate concepts such as virtue and justice. They also ponder about nature (for instance, whether human beings are good or evil naturally). In addition, humans imagine the bordes of what they can do. They contemplate about the future prospects and the kind of personalities thry would like to have. However, Platonic psychological explanation, based on the nature of the soul could go in hand with Plato’s political theory. Moreover, the tripartite nature of the soul would correspond to the three distinct classes within his theorized ideal society. Within Plato’s ideal society, workers, labors and moneymakers comprise the appetitive soul. Auxiliaries and soldiers who keep the working class on check make up the spirited soul while rulers and guardians make up the reason or rational part of the soul. Here Plato held that harmonious relation could only exist if the three parts of the soul work together in harmony, by sticking to their specific functions. Plato believes that this kind of specialization could lead to justice within societies. According to Plato, the rational part of the soul is the part that rule due to its immense wisdom. Therefore, this psychological theory, depicts reason as the maim component of the mind structure that deliberates on all the affair of the soul. Furthermore, Plato argued that mental health requires a balance of harmony between amongst the parts of the soul. Nevertheless, this balance of harmony can only be achieved through reasoning. The human and environmental health are the most valued assets for human beings. The importance of these assets is often assumed until one loses them. Health and diseases are concepts considered vital only to biological systems. There is the need for a balanced ration of resources if organisms are to survive. Organisms that are deprived of resources face serious challenges while those that get resources in excess become intoxicated in the process. A biological system has the priority of maintaining a state of balance necessary for adaptation of species. This balance should occur between the external and internal environment. For complex organisms that move about, the system coordinates the balancing even in the face of changing internal and external environments. A healthy state pursues the benefits and defenses against the harmful elements in the environment. All human processes including the mental process correlate with the environmental conditions as well as the biochemical and physiological events that occur inside the body and brain. Inside the brain, proper functioning can be understood as the collective activity of the numerous nerve cells coupled with complex biochemical events controlled by gene expression. This functioning has been proven to trigger evolution, development, current perception, learning, and judgment. The adapting capacity correlates with mental flexibility necessary for current life situation. When the specificity and flexibility of response rises, the adapting capacity also increases proportionately. The evolution of more complex forms of life led to the evolution of more complex systems to maintain the balance. This situation resembles an ancient city where new buildings have been erected on old ones. These new and old buildings are redundant though interconnected in some way. The overall outcome is the elevation of these complex buildings above the old ones, which are deemed less adaptable to change (Walach & Schmidt, 2005). The definition of human health has taken the dimension of balance or soundness of the body, mind, soul, and spirit. Despite the society’s emphasis on the extremes, health remains in a state of balance. The balance is within ourselves, with our environment, and with others. A healthy mental functioning is crucial to achieving the balance. Freud, the psychoanalyst, made remarkable claims concerning the human mind. According to Freud, the human mind is made up of three parts that exist independently and performs different functions. He mentions these parts as the Id, Ego and Superego. He explains the Id as the universal part of the mind that represents all human beings at birth. In addition to that, he also saw it as the primitive part of the human mind. He further explained the lack of morality within the Id as a factor brought by lack of consciousness, and equated it with pleasure of the body. Secondly, he explains the Ego as the center that facilitates all the functions of the Id. It adjusts appetite of the Id and in this context, it directs behavior. The functions of the Ego are thus human thinking, planning and problem solving among others. The Ego is the middle part of the mind that mediates between the Id and superego. The last division of the mind is the Super-ego. The Super-ego judges the moral functions of the Ego. Freud asserts that parts of the unconscious mind, that is the Id and Superego, are always in constant conflict with the conscious part of the mind, the Ego. Here, he uses his psychological analysis in explaining the roles played by various parts of the soul in creating harmony (Olivier 83). The physical organization of the two models of the soul differs in structure. Freud portrays the rational Ego as sandwiched between Superego and Id, with an ability to reconcile the two. On the other hand, however, Plato views the three faculties as organized with Reason at the top, followed by the Spirit in the middle and finally the Appetite. However, these differences in the physical arrangement do not negate the fact that the two models share some similarities. There exist similarities in Plato’s Appetite, Reason and Spirited mind and Freud’s theory of the Id, the Ego and the Super-ego. Freud explains the existence of mind on three levels as the Id, the Ego and the Super-ego. This explanation more or less coincides with the Platonic theory, which also equates the existence of the human mind to three distinct parts of Appetite, Reason and Spirit. In fact, the two theorists have used the three parts of the mind figuratively (Olivier 81). Plato has linked individuals to a city composed of different characters. Here, appetitive casts represent the workers, whereas auxiliaries and soldiers make the spirited part (Olivier 82). Last is the rational part that represents the rulers. Plato sees the three parts as performing various functions independently for harmonious living. On the other hand, Freud’s theory is almost the same as the Platonic theory in that it attributes functions of the soul to different parts. Interestingly, the two theories links human troubles to lack of harmonious relationship in the human work environment. Thus, it figures the various functions that different classes must perform in their individual capacity without interfering with others for their harmonious existence. Freud’s Id and Plato’s Appetitive may be seen to be similar in that both are associated with human desire and greed. They can also be associated with genitals and stomach. Likewise, they form the lowest part of the tripartite, and both are under the control of the other two elements. However, the two differ in their complexity. For instance, Freud’s Id has more characteristics like body hunger and subconscious elements. Plato’s spirited class and Freud’s superego share similarities in that both act as centers for reasoning. Besides, Spirit opposes Appetite, leading it towards good and responsible behavior based on reasoning. In the two approaches, Plato and Freud manifested their final parts of the soul, the rationale and the ego, as governing desires of the other two with reason. Both seem to have applied a rationality approach as a way of creating a healthy society. Freud sees the task of psychoanalysis as that of strengthening the ego’s hold on the Id (Olivier 81). The allegory of the chariot is another kind of metaphor that Plato used in explaining a theoretical model of the human soul. In this theory, Plato presents the chariot, a charioteer and two winged horses, of which one is black and one is white. Moreover, this allegory portrays a situation where the chariot attempts to rise beyond heavens but eventually falls to the earth. This Platonic model gives room for comparison with Freud’s theory of the Id, Supper-ego and the Ego based on reason. Here the dark horse and Freud’s Id holds similar characteristics. This dark horse corresponds to appetites, lusts and bodily desires. This horse is portrayed to be unruly to the charioteer and causes trouble. The charioteer needs to be unruly too, therefore corresponds to the Freudian Ego that manages conflict between the super-ego and the Id. According to this Plato’s psychology, the charioteer represents Reason and the entire reasoning elements of mind. On the other hand, the white horse represents the element of psych associated with boldness, courage that also corresponds to Freudian super-ego. The human soul, according to Plato, is made up of three elements: spirit, appetite, and reason. Appetite is al about instinctive drives. On the other hand, spirit is acquired desires, including self-respect and honor. Reason is the ability to be knowledgeable, and this includes moral knowledge. Based on this distinction, Plato came to a conclusion of normative implication. He argued that the just man never allows the three elements comprising the inward self to violate their respective functions or interfere with one another. However, if the three elements are tuned up properly, a person can bring p his house rightfully, achieve order and self-maturity while living on perfect terms with oneself. Naturally, the role played by reason is principally that of ruling the soul. According to Plato, reason ought to rule (Ryle, 2009). One should have the foresight and wisdom to act independently and entirely. The spirit should support and obey reason. Aristotle put this differently in one of his Platonic moments. He claimed that as the city or other physical locations are identified with outstanding elements inside them, a man will similarly be identified. A man can be judged as having or lacking self-control when he cannot control his wisdom on the assumption that man is nothing but wisdom. According to Plato’s further arguments, true happiness and morally virtuous character both emanate from a perfect internal soul structure for which reason is the ruler. In summary, the two theorists, Plato and Freud help in approaching the psychological problems of mind as applied by psychologists. For instance, Platonic theory of mind is in principle a derivative to neurodynamics. Here the two seems to be supporting the principle of psychological space. Secondly, psychologists find it easier to discuss mental phenomena by the use of language of future space. Therefore, the two can get along well in discussing the theory of mind. Though scientific understanding as a phenomenon emerged only recently, people have interacted with and observed the universe inside and outside for centuries. Despite the numerous and profound advancements in scientific method and technology today, surprising similarities and parallels exist as well between the the theories of ancient times and those of modernity. No matter how much the Greek philosophers are dobted for their arguments, which are considered conservative and superstitious, their works have been crucial points of reference for current studies. These works have helped advance studies in the modern era. References Flavell, J. H. (2004). Theory-of-Mind Development: Retrospect and Prospect. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50(3), 274-290. Olivier, Bert. Heidegger, Plato, Freud, Nietzsche, the ‘soul’ and the question of human finitude. Phronimon Volume 13(1) 2012. Accessed from http://www.phronimon.co.za/index.php/phroni/article/view/59/56 Ryle, G. (2009). The Concept of the Mind. London: Cambridge University Press Walach, H. and Schmidt, S. (2005). Repairing Plato's Life Boat with Ockham's Razor: The Important Function of Research in Anomalies for Consciousness Studies. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 12(2), 52-70. Read More