13 - Plutarch on the division of the soul

Summary

This chapter focuses on the Platonic Questions, On the Generation of the Soul in the Timaeu, and On Moral Virtue. Plutarch does not seem to worry about the question how the world soul can perceive in the absence of sense-organs. Apparently the world soul has images by being in direct contact with the perceptible. Just like the world soul, human souls have a kinetic and cognitive aspect. Plutarch's philosophical myths contain the remarkable doctrine that souls stem from the moon, whereas intellect stems from the sun. According to Plutarch, Plato's doctrine of the partition of the soul is most clearly explained in the Timaeus, more particularly in the description of the composition of the world soul. Plutarch's account of Plato's tripartition is followed by a much debated and somewhat confusing description of Aristotle's views on the division of the soul.