Home
Scholarly Works
Tyrannized Souls: Plato's Depiction of the...
Journal article

Tyrannized Souls: Plato's Depiction of the ‘Tyrannical Man’1

Abstract

In book 9 of Plato's Republic, Socrates describes the nature and origins of the ‘tyrannical man’, whose soul is said to be ‘like’ a tyrannical city. In this paper, I examine the nature of the ‘government’ that exists within the tyrannical man's soul. I begin by demonstrating the inadequacy of three potentially attractive views sometimes found in the literature on Plato: the view that the tyrannical man's soul is ruled by his ‘lawless’ unnecessary appetites, the view that it is ruled by sexual desire, and the view that it is ruled by a lust for power. I then present my own account. On the view I defend, the tyrannical man's soul is to be understood as ruled by a single, persistent, powerful desire for bodily pleasure: as much as he can get, and however he can get it. Finally, I show how understanding the tyrannical man's soul in the way I recommend helps resolve some commonly expressed concerns about this part of the Republic. I suggest, on this basis, that Plato's procedure in constructing his catalogue of corrupt cities and souls in Republic 8 and 9 was more carefully thought out and systematic than has sometimes been supposed.

Authors

Johnstone MA

Journal

British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 423–437

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Publication Date

May 4, 2015

DOI

10.1080/09608788.2015.1017799

ISSN

0960-8788

Contact the Experts team