Universe of Platonic Thought 2024

32nd International Conference “The Universe of Platonic Thought: Plato’s Heritage in the History of Science and Education”

Anastasia Malyavksy, Independent scholar

Plato's theory of the structure of the soul and its influence on the concept of the psychic apparatus: a dialogue between ancient and modern thought

The lecture examines the influence of Plato's ideas about the structure of the soul on the development of concepts of the psychic apparatus in 20th-century psychology. Central is Sigmund Freud's discovery of the unconscious realm of drives and desires - the "Id", which reveals a striking parallel with the "appetitive" part of the soul according to Plato. Freud's "Superego" performs a normative function analogous to the "rational" part of Plato's conception, while the "Ego" plays a mediating role, reminiscent of the "spirited" component. After Freud, development proceeded along divergent paths: some scholars followed the "tripartite" model, while others returned to the idea of the unity of the psyche. However, contemporary empirical data testifies to the multilevel organization of the psychic, encompassing conscious and unconscious processes. Drawing on Carl Jung's metaphor of the alchemical "Great Work" allows us to synthesize these opposing positions. The psyche develops through a process of successive transcendence, from unconscious drives through the formation of a rational "Self" to the highest level - the ability for free choice and self-knowledge. Thus, Platonic ideas open up perspectives for integrating various traditions into a unified conceptual model of multilevel psychic organization. Reactivating Plato's legacy provides an opportunity to overcome the divide between the opposing approaches in the history of psychology.

Keywords: Plato, Freud, Jung, Soul, Structure of the Psyche, Unconscious, Multilevel Organization, Transcendence

One of the most influential theories in 20th-century psychology was Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche, which mirrored Plato's conception of the soul. Like Plato, Freud viewed the psyche as comprising multiple components with distinct functions and principles.

Plato outlined the soul as consisting of three parts: the "appetitive" part governing bodily desires, the "spirited" part governing willpower and emotions, and the "rational" part grasping truth and morality. This tripartite division parallels Freud's Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id aligns with Plato's appetitive part – the unconscious realm of instinctual drives. The Superego performs a regulatory function akin to Plato's rational part. The Ego mediates between the Id and Superego's demands, echoing Plato's volitional component. However, distinctions exist, as Plato's spirited part had normative aspects that Freud solely assigned to the Superego.

Plato's idea of an internally divided, multi-component soul was innovative for ancient philosophy. Aristotle acknowledged "parts" as capacities but viewed the soul as a unified essence. This notion of the indivisible soul/psyche prevailed through the Middle Ages and the Modern era. Descartes reduced the soul solely to the realm of reason, reducing it to the principle of the "thinking thing" (res cogitans).

What was innovative was that Freud not only revived Plato's ideas about the internal division of the psyche but was the first to explicitly identify the realm of the unconscious with its drives, having a bodily, physiological source, conflicts, and the pleasure principle, calling it the "Id". Thus, Freud significantly supplemented Plato's scheme and paved the way for overcoming Descartes' rigid mind-body dualism.

After Freud, the development of concepts about the structure of the psyche proceeded along different paths. Some conceptions followed Plato and Freud's "tripartite" model (Erik Erikson's epigenetic theory of personality development through crises of "Ego identity"; Eric Berne's triad of Child-Adult-Parent). Others, on the contrary, leaned once again towards the idea of the unity of the psyche as a multiplicity of processes (the Gestalt psychology of Max Wertheimer, the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl, and the humanistic psychology of Abraham Maslow).

The debate about the unified/multi-component nature of the psyche remains relevant in contemporary science. Empirical data from neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and consciousness studies testify both to the unity of mental phenomena and to the presence of different subsystems and levels of organization within the psyche.

Drawing on Carl Jung's metaphor of the alchemical "Great Work" allows us to outline a path for synthesizing and resolving this conceptual opposition. Jung was the first to anticipate the key influence of the social on the formation of the psyche, and he believed that a person's description of the surrounding world reflects their inner psychic state. Accordingly, alchemical images and symbols can be viewed as projections of inner psychic processes and levels of the psyche. Thus, the metaphor of alchemy proves fitting for modeling the structural organization of the human psyche.

Just as the combination of prime matter with individual elements gives rise to the philosopher's stone, so too does the initially unified psyche (Prima Materia) develop through successive levels of transcendence, acquiring an ever more complex internal structure.

At the first level (nigredo), the realm of unconscious drives emerges, corresponding to the appetitive part of Plato's soul. At this stage, psychic processes cannot be reduced to chemical-biological processes, so the emergence of the psyche is the first level of transcendence, occurring through evolution.

Next (albedo and citrinitas), reason and Self-conception form through social interaction (per Rubinstein and Luria) and cognitive development (partially mirroring Plato's spirited/rational parts). Self-consciousness transcends psychic processes through interaction with others' psyches.

The "social" aspects of inner psychic life (inner conflict, inner dialogue, etc.) also testify to the interaction with different "personae" within consciousness. Resolving inner conflict is only possible by making a choice, and thus presupposes the presence of an "I-that-makes-choices".

Although the "I-that-makes-choices" is limited by biological, cognitive, and social factors, it cannot be determined by them. It also cannot be reduced simply to consciousness, since in order to choose between "parts of consciousness", one must "rise above them". Thus, at the third level (rubedo), through reflection and self-knowledge, one attains "Free Will", the normative ability to make choices between different impulses - akin to the rational part in Plato. Overall, the psyche manifests as a unified, multilevel formation, developing along the path of individuation according to C.G. Jung.

Thus, Plato's ideas about the soul's internal structure find potential in contemporary multilevel psyche models encompassing conscious/unconscious processes. Reactivating these ancient notions opens perspectives for integrating divergent psychological traditions into a unified conceptual framework.