Plato and Descartes - Article Example

of the of the of the Plato and Descartes The mind and soul notions by Descartes and Plato arenot the same in the dualism of ‘mind – body’ and ‘soul – body’. Descartes is more towards the complete and comprehensive independence of mind form the body. As compared to this, Plato is an advocate of limited dependency of soul on body. Following are the views of both the philosophers that ascertain this argument. Plato: In order to understand Plato’s views one has to first, ponder upon two notions of thinking and animation. If thinking is a product of intelligence then the application of thinking would be its according movement in the body of the thinker. The process of thinking does not really seem to have physical properties whereas the body definitely bears physical significance. The dependence of thinking (soul does thinking for Plato) on body thus becomes a relative question. This question becomes complicated when being alive does not only adhere to the movements of body as a person remains alive during sleep as well, i.e. (apparently) without thinking. Plato considers thinking (an exercise of intelligence done by soul) to be primitively theoretical. This means that thinking primarily does not need the body to get exercised and it has the capability to exist solely. A freedom from the practical life can be enjoyed by thinking without any obvious effects. Plato believes that the soul performs its best in thinking when it is not associated with a body. To assist the statement with reasoning he says that thinking is a par excellence job and can be exercised freely. In line with this thought Socrates proposes that a philosopher should be glad to die if death is a separation of soul from body. Interestingly the other side of this argument lies within it, which means that the soul functions in a limited manner when it is within a body. This asserts soul – body relationship. Plato involves animation of body as a sub task of soul. This originates the idea of animating soul as an extension to the thinking soul. In Plato’s view a soul needs a body for a specific kind of life. This may be a practical life to achieve its objectives through animation of the body. To him the soul functions as a power behind a body, but this doesn’t mean that it must co-exist with the body. Descartes: In his view the mind is the thinker and there is nothing like thinking soul. The living body and corpse are like machine working and machine out of order. He terms the existence of body as a thought of mind or a dream of mind. He is an advocate of the thought that the mind and body are not involved in any physical association, not even for a limited period of time. The mind works independently even when it is considered to be associated with a body. Being alive to him does not mean to live within a body. COMPARING PLATO AND DESCARTES A number of similarities existed between the works of Plato and Descartes. Both these philosophers were rationalists. Plato believed that reality may be exceptionally different from the frame of mind that existed within human beings. He emphasized that the physical world must be understood in terms of non physical concepts. Coining out the possibility of difference in human thought and factual knowledge Plato termed the physical world as immaterial. Descartes, on the other hand, was inspired by the works of Plato and maintained that rationalism or reason could all aspects of reality. He said that there must be as much reality in the cause as there is in effect. He believed in God as an infinite and perfect being. He understood this by confirming that he himself was imperfect thus he cannot be a predecessor to God. Thus God in turn was perfect and Persistent. COMPARING SOCRATES AND GANDHI Gandhi was an Indian while Socrates belonged to Athens. Both shared the wisdom that enabled them to think in the light of the ‘voice of God’. It was as if an inner voice guided them and told them what to do. Both the philosophers were harmonious in the source of their thoughts and therefore possessed compatibility. Both of them negative the perspective that they thought of themselves as of being anywhere near to the God Almighty himself. Gandhi was very receptive to criticism and always faced all kinds of opposition and comments with his ever famous ‘smile’. He opposed the tyranny of the then rulers who did not work for their public. He believed in resisting the inappropriate rule of the state but believed in doing so only very peacefully. His own words depict his political Strategy as follows: "Nonviolence in its dynamic condition means conscious suffering. It does not mean meek submission to the will of the evildoer, but it means putting of ones whole soul against the will of the tyrant. Working under this law of our being, it is possible for a single individual to defy the whole might of an unjust empire to save his honor, his religion, his soul, and lay the foundation for that empires fall or its regeneration." (Wofford, n.p.) Views of Socrates and Gandhi on Obedience to the State. Gandhi believed in peaceful retaliation to unjust treatments of the State. Socrates however believed it was inappropriate to launch any kind of opposition against the State whether the State was being just or not. On an instance when Gandhi was sent to jail for civil disobedience he said: "We must widen the prison gates, and we must enter them as a bridegroom enters the brides chamber." (Wofford, n.p.) Gandhi was sentenced six years imprisonment for the above mentioned civil disobedience. His esteemed thinking can be assessed by the fact that his response to the imprisonment decree was the appraisal of the judge’s decision by him. He said the judge was being courteous and fair. With respect to Crito Socrates believed that it was inappropriate to do injustice in response to injustice. Therefore he did not agree with civil disobedience movements. He emphasized that a citizen was to a city as a child was to a parent. Since the citizen befitted from leverages given by the State it was inappropriate for him to stand up against the same state if some unjustified action was being executed against him. His obedience to the state can be observed in his following words form Crito:  “either persuade [the state] or obey its orders, and endure in silence whatever it instructs [them] to endure.” (Plato, P2) WORK CITED Braodie, Sarah. “Soul And Body In Plato And Descartes.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society (2001): 295. Web. 9 July. 2011. Wofford, Harris. “Imitation Of Christ?  The Worlds Most Famous Hindu Became The Greatest Exemplar Of The Sermon On The Mount.” http://www.mkgandhi-sarvodaya.org/articles/harriswofford.htm. n.d. Web. 9 July. 2011. Plato, Crito. In The Trial and Death of Socrates, Third Edition, trans. G.M.A. Grube, ed. John M. Cooper (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000), 45. Print. Read More