[Revised entry by Hendrik Lorenz on May 15, 2024.
Changes to: Main text, Bibliography]
Ancient philosophical theories of soul are in many respects sensitive to ways of speaking and thinking about the soul [psuche] that are not specifically philosophical or theoretical. We therefore begin with what the word ‘soul’ meant to speakers of Classical Greek, and what it would have been natural to think about and associate with the soul. We then turn to various Presocratic thinkers, and to the philosophical theories that are our primary concern, those of Plato (first in the Phaedo, then in the…

Originally appeared on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Read More