According to Plato, humans have three souls. The part striving for unity develops a simplicity that opens the eyes to the abundance of the spirit.
Diversity is the first glimpse we get of the world. Everything that moves or appears strange to us attracts our attention and generates emotions, thoughts and reactions. But every reaction to what is perceived is individual, and this continues. While one person curiously examines the object of their attention, trying to penetrate its depths and perhaps keeping their curiosity alive with questions, another quickly loses interest and turns to new impressions. On the one hand, there is the leap from one impression to another, like a bee that diligently flies from flower to flower. On the other hand, there is the deepening of an impression, often over many years. When this impermanence loses its appeal, the constant change becomes more transparent to us.
In the Gospel of Thomas, Logion 5, Jesus describes this process when he says
“Recognise what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest.”
Matter as a living world
This process requires both self-knowledge and knowledge of the material world. It is a living being that expresses itself through diversity and change in form, colour, smell and feel. In this changing, living world of a thousand things, our sensory perception is designed to perceive changes in particular. A scent that lasts longer evaporates from our perception. Likewise, the sounds and objects that always appear the same in the same place quickly steal away from our attention. Humans in our culture is constantly striving to develop new connections and new compositions of form, sound, and colour to attract people’s attention again. The magic word in many areas of life is “new.” With constant changes in forms, colours, sounds, and movements, the material world tries to lure us into its mysterious depths and bind us to our sensory organs. It has an outer, living and constantly changing side of form and a hidden inner side that can be penetrated and has a spiritual dimension.
All material structures that change and develop or undergo phases of development are in a certain way are alive, they have a soul. Plato referred to everything “alive” as soul, in Greek as psyche. For him, the cosmos and also the world around us were alive or animated, since they consist of a material structure that is always in motion. His preoccupation with what he called the soul was central to his philosophical considerations. For him, the source of all life and development was the world of ideas as the highest spiritual structure. For him, the soul was necessary as a mediator between abstract concepts and humans living in matter.
There are three souls in every human being
For Plato, to connect with all the worlds, humans need three souls. The highest is the immortal soul of reason. Its dwelling place is the head, and its realm of activity is the world of divine ideas; it leads the soul to truth. The abstract thought that is reflected in the soul of reason is the possibility for the human being to partake in the “eternal ideas”. To simultaneously see in the divine world of ideas and to work in the material world, the human being has two further mortal souls. On the one hand, there is the soul of courage, rationality, and morality.
On the other hand, there is the soul of matter and irrationality. This material or natural soul is driven like a wild animal. It draws humans into the diversity of matter. Overcoming this urge ultimately consists of subordination to the soul of rationality and a subordinating hand to the soul of reason.
It can establish a certain distance from the matter. Still, it will never be able to direct itself upwards or to spiritualise itself. But in a constant process of purification, it can reduce its attachment to the earth. The soul of courage seeks to enforce what has been rationally recognised, possibly even against the resistance of the material soul. According to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, courage has genius, power, and magic. Although it is mortal, it can direct itself upwards and connect with the rational soul. The soul of reason and the soul of courage merge over many incarnations into an immortal unity.
The winged chariot
These three souls are independent of each other in life and can also quarrel or fight with each other. Plato uses the image of a winged chariot for the interaction of these three soul areas, with the soul of reason as the charioteer and two very different horses. The wild and impetuous horse is always trying to pull the chariot downwards. At the same time, the charioteer can use the “courageous” horse to try to direct the chariot towards heaven. The happiest is the one who can guide the chariot in such a way that the wild, impetuous horse can be tamed and subordinated to reason. The courageous horse can be directed heavenwards in constant effort and walk by the hand of the rational soul.
According to Plato, the three souls have their firm seat in the human body. The rational soul works with the abstract thoughts of the eternal world of ideas. We can only perceive anything cognisable in this world if there is an archetype for it in the world of ideas. The archetype of a table ensures that we recognise every table as such in the world of the senses. The soul of courage now tries to align the sensual experiences in the material world with the “eternal ideas” to develop a reasonable way of life, thus detaching the chariot from the earth and leading it heavenwards. The task of the philosopher is to help people align their chariots so that by harmonising the three souls, they can elevate their being above the material world. The soul of courage undergoes a deep transformation in the process. It can increasingly foster integration and develop prudence and justice in people. It dwells in the human chest; its driving force is courage.
Plato calls philosophising a dying-learning. The more a person learns to be guided by the rational soul, the easier it is for him to detach himself from the material body in a “dying process” and to ascend unhindered into the eternal world of ideas and to break out of the diversity. The term “soul of courage” is rather unusual today. We could rather speak of a “soul of culture“, a mixing vessel in which the conflict between spirit and matter, between simplicity and variety, takes place. It has the freedom to connect with time or eternity. If it connects more strongly with the material soul, which has its seat in the belly, then the material soul takes the lead and binds the person firmly to the material world, so that he forgets his spiritual origin. As a result, after the death of his body, he cannot completely detach himself from the material world and remains bound to matter in a new incarnation. For Plato, the transmigration of souls through several bodies is a central component of his philosophical considerations. It is necessary for humanity’s development toward its original divinity.
The interaction of the three souls
Based on the previous thoughts, a polarity can be seen between the simplicity of the individual idea and the diversity of the world of a thousand things. Let’s take a table as an example. Here in our world, there are an infinite number of tables, differing in form, colour, and function. In the abstract world of the spirit of ideas, as Plato understands them, there is only one table. Thus, in this world of becoming, diversity is directly related to simplicity in the world of being through the rational soul.
The question now arises: how can a person consciously relate to their source amid the diversity of their life? Perhaps it is clear from the thoughts so far that the soul of courage plays a crucial role here. It is the prerogative of the philosopher, as Plato understands him, to undergo a deep transformation of the soul of courage. He describes the task of humans to free themselves from matter while still living in it, and then to turn to the world again to help others free themselves.
The soul of courage is essential in this process, because it gives the person the opportunity, through a correspondingly virtuous life, to turn upwards or inwards again and again to recognise the true, the good and the beautiful. The rational soul helps it to do so by stimulating curiosity, tireless research and the longing for true knowledge. In harmonious interaction, they compensate for their respective weaknesses. The rational soul can only work when it comes into contact and exchange with the other soul areas. The soul of courage must have the courage to break away from daily habits and to repeatedly take the hand of the soul of reason to orient itself upwards and inwards. It must learn to engage with the soul of matter only to the extent necessary for the experience and development of virtues. The soul of matter tends to get lost in the world of a thousand things and to intensify the bond with matter with untamed power to such an extent that a virtuous life becomes impossible. It escapes this danger by subordinating itself to the soul of reason and the soul of courage.
Diversity and simplicity
In the Gospel of Thomas, Log. 5, as indicated at the beginning, the soul’s development is predetermined. When the soul begins its journey through the world of the senses, it can be simple in the sense of being inexperienced. With each experience, it becomes more attached to matter, more diverse, often with the danger of getting lost in that diversity. As it recognises the hidden spirit behind the sensual world through its experiences, it begins to develop a new simplicity. It adapts to the world in which it can see the eternal ideas in the sense of Plato. The highest of which are the ideas of true good and true beauty. It thus gains access to a world that has always corresponded to its innermost being.
