Group #3 (This Is Esten)
Hey Guys, I am just posting from caleb's account because
I am having trouble getting into the blog.
An individuals ability to live a balanced life is dependent on the harmony of his
soul, (Logos, Epithumos, Thumos) These three components of the soul encompass all
that we are and feel as humans. When elements of the soul are functioning correctly
the human heart is content, and an individual is able to act justly in a content manner.
Once a major imbalance in this harmony is occurs, the individual begins to not only
inflict harm on upon himself, but the rest of his society as well.
The tyrannical man is an example of an imbalance of the soul. He allows his lawless desires to enter his everyday life life, instead of keeping them confined to his
dreams; as just men do. “He has become for all his waking life the man he used to be from time to time in his dreams, ready to shed blood or eat forbidden food or do any dreadful dead” (IX. 574).Initially, the tyrannical man spends his own personal wealth for his despotic ventures. After his wealth has expired he begins to take loans that he cannot repay. After there are no more loans to be had, he goes to extremes to fund his immoderate behavior. He steals and kills without second thought in order to feed his voracious cravings. The calamity of the imbalance of his soul is so deeply rooted that they soon overtake any of the just parts that might be left is his soul. The tyrannical man’s inability to maintain the equilibrium of his soul not only self decimating, but
also creates unwanted crime and tension in the society.
The constant use of practices of moderation are vital to the affinity of the
soul. If an individual can maintain the equilibrium of his soul he will experience a true
self mastery. If he allows his soul to be infiltrated by unnecessary desires an imbalance
will occur, and in turn he will no longer be in control of soul, actions, and the impact he
will have on himself and the rest of society.
Nice, Esten, that was a tight argument. At the end you say because of his imbalance, a tyrant is no longer in control of his soul, actions, or impact on himself and society. But maybe a tyrant is in control of the impact he makes. He just doesn't care that it's harmful. Isn't it a conscious decision to let the his lawless desires gain prominence in his soul and become a part of his everyday life?
ReplyDeleteI agree, Clara, but I think a counter argument that could be made is that the tyrant's intent does not matter. One could say that, by making the conscious decision you mentioned, he is allowing the thumos to take over. Allowing this to happen takes away his control over how he impact's society. Now that his soul is unbalanced, he will act unjustly no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI guess the next question has to be: Now that the tyrant's soul is unbalanced, can it be "re-balanced"?
The way Plato describes the downfall of the tyrant, he doesn't seem to leave any room for his redemption. Even after he loses all of his money (which I would assume to be humbling) he continues to take on debt.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Plato believes that the unbalance of desires is permanent, and that we are born with either a balance of the three parts of the soul or without the balance? Or do you think the environment an individual inhabits, or the place they hold in society influences the balance?
Plato talks a lot about gold vs. silver vs. iron individuals, and how different parts of the souls are dominant for different types of people. When Plato says that gold parents with iron kids would have to "harden their hearts, assign it its proper value, and degrade it" (415c), I think he's saying environment cannot have enough of an effect to change the way people are born. Maybe a certain environment would be able to sway someone who already has iron tendencies to turn into a tyrant, but it cannot turn a gold individual into a tyrant.
ReplyDeleteDoes Plato ever mention a perfectly balanced individual? Even the Guardians, who are assumed to be about as perfect as anyone can get, are out of balance because they are ruled by their Logos. Should the goal be to have a dominant Logos or to be balanced?