Single Idea 1651

[catalogued under 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / g. Controlling emotions]

Full Idea

Plato put high on his agenda a project which did not figure in Socrates' programme at all: the hygienic conditioning of the passions. This cannot be an intellectual process, as argument cannot touch them.

Clarification

'Hygienic' here means 'for the sake of good health'

Gist of Idea

Plato wanted to somehow control and purify the passions

Source

comment on Plato (works [c.375 BCE]) by Gregory Vlastos - Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher p.88

Book Reference

Vlastos,Gregory: 'Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher' [CUP 1992], p.88


A Reaction

This is the standard traditional view of any thinker who exaggerates the importance and potential of reason in our lives.