Socrates Rational Part Of The Soul

In Book V of The Republic, Socrates argues that the rational part of the soul can be distinguished from the appetitive part. Before writing on the portions of the soul, Socrates begins to discuss how the soul is constituted. Socrates divides the soul into three separate parts – the appetitive, the spirit, and the rational. Each part of the soul has its own distinct role which it must perform. The idea of different parts of the soul (for the purposes of this paper, the appetitive and rational) differing from one another is extremely objectionable. First, I will provide a formal reconstruction of Socrates’ argument, followed by an explanation of his reasoning in support of the premises. Then, I will develop my objection to one of the premises.
Law of contradiction – two different actions cannot be imposed on an object. (p)
2. Appetitive element of the soul longs for sexual and thirst (irrational eating machine) (p)
3. There is a part of the soul that goes against desires (p)
4. Therefore, the impulsive part of the soul is the appetitive element (1,2)
5. Therefore, part of the soul is rational (1,3)
Socrates; argument is rooted on three premises. Premise one is based on the law of contradiction, which Glaucon and Socrates discuss that, “clearly one and the same thing cannot act of be affected in opposite ways at the same time in the same part of it and in relation to the same object” (436c). Socrates explicates this law of contradiction by providing an example. Socrates discusses a man who is standing still but moves his head and hands. This man is thus simultaneously both at rest and in motion. Not only does Socrates provide one example, but another; in Socrates’ next example, he illustrates a spinning top. A top spinning round, ironically, on a fixed axis, therefore staying in the same location all the while rotating; Glaucon and Socrates agreed on the description of the top as: in
The appetitive component of the soul craves worldly pleasures…thirst and hunger, when thirsty, one desires a drink, and when hungry, food. Socrates believes, “the mind of the thirty man, therefore, in so far as he is thirsty, simply wants to drink, and it is to that end that its energies are directed” (439a-b). Socrates furthers the separate elements, the appetitive soul is “closely connected with satisfaction and pleasure” (439d). Socrates overtly describes that the appetitive part of the soul does not think rationally. The appetitive element of the soul is solely in place to distract from the rational element of the