Philosophy – Socrates Soul StatementSocrates claimed that the soul contains three main parts: a rational part, an appetitive part, and a spirited part. The rational part is the faculty that leads us away from indulgences, while the appetitive part leads us towards them. The rational part is engendered by calculation but the appetitive part generates passive and diseased states. The spirited part is to obey the rational part and carry out its order with courage. Socrates proposed that justice is the best life in which the rational part reigns with the spirited part as its ally, and cultivates the appetitive part. Furthermore, Socrates argued that happiness is determined by the healthiness of the soul. The just soul is the healthiest soul, and therefore the just life is the happiest life. According to the data collected by the Pew research center, the happiest life is not solely due to justice or constantly regulating yourself from needs and pleasure. It is related to other external factors, such as income, education, race, and personal believes. These factors are important and necessary to maintain a healthy body and a healthy soul. Even though these factors could be considered as desires by appetitive part of the soul and should be considered sickness of the soul, they establish happiness in life. This claim constitutes a challenge to Socratess argument on justice and soul-health in premises 2: if one soul is healthy, then the rational part rules over the other parts of the soul.
According to Socrates, the best life is the one in which ones soul is healthy. If one soul is healthy, the rational part rules over the other parts of the soul. However, more people are happy because of higher income, which is not a good in itself but a good for other consequences, and its consequence, in this case, is happiness. Money could also be a means leading to the highest good: happiness. The part that controls the strong desire or impulse to earn more money is the appetitive part. This means when appetitive part sometimes rule over the other parts of the soul, then the person is happy. However, this appetitive part in control does not cause the soul to be sick. On contrary, it can cause the soul to be healthier since money can be used as a means to receive a better health care for the body and the health of the body also contributes to the health of the soul. Moreover, other external factors are related to happiness as well,
The moral part of decision making can be understood as a good/bad decision:
1) Some people make good decisions mainly if they think they can achieve a decent end, which is what is beneficial for the whole group. If others make bad decisions, how can the whole group live in good peace and in satisfaction?
2) Some people make bad decisions because some people don’t like taking responsibility. A person who wants to be more responsible has to work for it. Some people who are good people don’t care for others’ actions. However, when people make good decisions (those who are good or in good position) they have the same good/bad decision. There is a common mistake with a bad decision: they don’t follow an obvious moral rule. This is why you have to say, “What are the consequences for the whole group?” You do not say, “But what’s the result?” I think that you are just following the general rule of the group because as you get more responsibility, you also have more responsibility. If you don’t know why people are bad, then there is no problem with taking responsibility.
3) People do not make good bad decisions because they think what they are doing is good and hence, the only reason why good decisions are made is because they want to make good decisions. However, once you have bad values about this decision, they don’t do it much anymore, so even when good decisions are made, the moral part of decisions is still bad. If some moral person becomes bad in some way, then other moral persons also become bad because they follow a good moral rule. Therefore, if you like to use a good moral rule, you have to say: “Do you follow the moral rules?”
4) If you like doing good things, you will always try to make one good decision, which isn’t good, or to make poor decisions when the others are being bad. You also have to avoid the mistake of using good moral rules after they are done, either you try this or you don’t follow the moral rules. It was in this way that the wise person should be able to save a life. However, in this way, the wise guy will be able to help the other people. Therefore, if you don’t know what to do instead of doing what you do, you will lose your life.
This moral rule was known as “the good rule”. But the good rule has many meanings, so try it and see what it means