Rational Part

In my study, I investigate aspects of Plato’s analysis of the kinds of unity of the individual soul. The text to which I shall refer in my essay is Plato’s Republic. Throughout Plato’s Republic, the soul is represented as a composite entity. Since any soul is composed of different parts, namely the rational part, the spirited part and the appetitive part, the soul can have different developments. On the one hand, the parts of the soul are given; on the other hand, the development of the parts of the soul is not given but depends on education and on the influence exercised by society. Thus, the kinds of unity of the individual soul can be different from each other depending on the part of the soul which leads the whole soul. Only the unity produced by the rational part corresponds to a morally healthy condition of the soul, whereas the prevalence of the other parts brings about unhealthy conditions of the soul.