Plato's Contributions to Psychology

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher, born in 427_BCE and died in 347_BCE. He was the student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. He was the founder of first ever university in Athens called Academy.

Roman copy of a portrait bust by Silanion
for the Academia in Athens (c. 370 BC)

He greatly contributed to the field of philosophy and provided the basis of psychology through his great ideas and theories. Below are some of his contributions in detail. 

Knowledge is innate            

Plato suggested that knowledge is innate and inborn. It resides inside the mind of a person. It means that people already have knowledge about everything, they don’t acquire it. They are born with this knowledge and understanding of the world around them. This is called the concept of innate ideas, which are present in our minds at birth. They're things we just know, not things we've learned through experience.

According to Plato, we can acquire this knowledge by looking inward. This method is called introspection in which inwardly reflection or observation is fortified and external observation is discouraged. Plato further postulated that if we want to acquire true knowledge then we have to look in our mind and soul. According to him, ideas are the true source of knowledge and as ideas resides in the mind and soul of a person, therefore true knowledge can only be gained through empiricism and observing facts. By doing this, a person can find solutions and explanations to the problems arising around him.

Ideas Are Eternal

According to Plato, ideas are eternal. They aren’t born neither do they die. Whereas, worldly things and objects can change and die. Hence, eternal things are the only source of true knowledge i.e. ideas. One can’t gain true knowledge from things which die out or change with time. In Plato’s view, soul is eternal and body is changeable and temporary. Therefore, true knowledge can only be gained through soul not with bodily transient sensory organs. Plato called these sensory organs, a hindrance in the process of acquiring knowledge. He further said that sensory organs can deceive us. 

Parts of Personality

Plato divided the personality into three parts:

1.    Intellect,

2.    Will, and

3.    Appetite.

Intellect is the ability of personality which helps in understanding. A person understands the world around him through this ability.

Will is the drive or wish, which triggered the person to doing something. It’s the action part of the personality.

Appetite is the part of personality, which deals with bodily needs. These are the needs related to hunger, love, sex and other bodily needs.

Parts of Soul

Plato introduces a new understanding of the human soul. For this, he gave a unique theory, called Tripartite theory. According to this theory, he suggested that the psych or soul has three parts. Each part has different functions. These parts are:

1.    Reason,

2.    Passion, and

3.    Appetite.

Reason is located in the head region. It’s the thinking part of the soul. Main function of reason is to control and direct the other parts of the soul i.e. passion and appetite. It rules in a harmonious organization of the parts of soul. In his famous work, Republic, he said:

"It is appropriate for the reasoning part to rule, since it is wise and exercises foresight on behalf of the whole soul, and for the spirited part to obey and be its ally" _{(Republic IV.441e4-6)}.

Passion reside in the chest region. It’s the action part of the soul. Its function is to drive a person to perform a certain action. It is the desire to do something. This part is also known as spirited or hot-blooded part i.e., the part that gets angry when it perceives e.g. in case of an injustice being done. Passion or spirited means with lots of energy and power. This energy or power drives a person to do something good or bad depending on his beliefs of good or bad.

Appetite part of the soul resides in the stomach region. It’s the need part of the soul. Appetite refers to the natural needs of the body. It contains all the myriad desires for various pleasures, comforts, physical satisfactions, and bodily ease i.e. hunger, thirst, sleep, rest, sex, etc.

According to Plato, soul is something which makes you reasonable, spirited and passionate and make you driven. Although, passion and appetite must be controlled by reason, else they will run wild and leave the soul in chaos.