Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven
As human beings we constantly struggle with ourselves on whether our actions are virtuous or vice. Some of us choose to act in an ethical way when presented with a certain situation, while others choose to act on their desires and therefore act unjustly. This was the struggle that the character, William Munny, faced in the movie “Unforgiven.” He was unable to control his desires, which resulted in his unethical actions. His actions support Socrates and Plato’s theory that if we let our desires or our emotions drive us we will act unethically when faced with circumstances. In this paper I will show how Socrates and Plato’s philosophy regarding our emotions and desires, explains William Munny’s actions throughout the movie.
According to Plato’s philosophy in order for human beings to have a healthy “soul,” our view of the world should not be distorted by fears, insecurities, irrational anxieties, or overpowering desires. He also explains that our judgment should not be blinded by greed or self-interest. Having a healthy “soul” means having a clear mind and seeing things for what they actually are; this “soul” is the core of our personality. A person with a healthy ”soul” will live a virtuous life by making ethical choices and controlling his or her desires.
William Munny was not that type of person, because his mind was clouded by desire and his “soul” was unhe...
For this reason, Plato believes that we must separate the soul based on how it
Everything has its evil side which, if not tamed, will lead it to eventual destruction. By saying everything, one may want to construe the meaning to include all things in the abstract and in reality; that is to say, both humans and actions. Humans should also be understood to mean the soul and the flesh separately. The soul does not do any action. The evils that accrue to the soul, therefore, are only as a result of its association with the body as seen earlier. As fronted by Plato, it is believed that it is the specific evil that is harboured in every individual thing that deteriorates it before eventually destroying it completely. It is the small weaknesses of the body that accumulate, if not tamed, into a greater darkness that finally leads one to commit some form of action that brings with it
... the nature of reality, and by cognitive optimism, a belief in the capacity of the human mind to attain the truth and to use this truth for the rational and virtuous ordering of human affairs. Plato believes that conflicting interests of different parts of society can be harmonized. The best, rational and righteous, political order, which he proposes, leads to a harmonious unity of society and allows each of its parts to flourish, but not at the expense of others. The theoretical design and practical implementation of such order, he argues, are impossible without virtue.
In this paper I will be discussing the tripartite (three parts) of the soul that Socrates discussed in chapter 6 of Plato’s Republic, and I will compare and contrast them to that of Aristotle and Anthony Kenny. In Plato’s Republic the three parts of the soul consist of the rational, spirited and, desire. In this dialogue the three parts of the soul go hand and hand with three parts of a just society.
To Plato, a good soul lives well. The soul is a part of overall happiness and justice for a person. This person is able to live morally and make decisions that don’t just benefit himself, but society and the individuals around him. Lorenz: The goal is to bring balance to all three parts of the soul.
The problem of dilemma, as presented by Philippa Foot in her writing, “Moral Dilemmas Revisited”, is the problem of whether it is possible to be in a situation where you cannot avoid making a wrong choice. Foot argues that it is always possible to avoid making a wrong choice in a difficult situation. She presents the ideas of multiple philosophers and their defense of the thought that there are situations where you can and will make a wrong choice. Foot defends herself further in the explanation of her point. She is presented with many views that involve a person still feeling guilty after a decision has been made. In this paper I will show and defend Foots argument that it is always possible to avoid making a wrong choice in a difficult situation because feelings of guilt do not have to coincide with actual regret or symbolizing a bad decision.
We live in a society that values the quantity of our possessions over the quality of our souls. Capitalism is driven by the principle that if everyone acts in their own self-interest, it will benefit both the economy and society in the long run. Coupled with our consumerist culture, where our happiness and satisfaction often depend on the sheer quantity of things we own, our money-loving souls will never achieve their highest potential as Plato describes it. In Republic and Phaedo, Plato puts forth several theories regarding a balanced soul ruled by reason and how it benefits society as a whole however they directly conflict with the “greed is good” mentality that drives modern capitalism and consumerism.
The Republic is an examination of the "Good Life"; the harmony reached by applying pure reason and justice. The ideas and arguments of Plato center on the social settings of an ideal republic - those that lead each person to the most perfect possible life for him. Socrates was Plato's early mentor in real life. As a tribute to his teacher, Plato uses Socrates in several of his works and dialogues. Socrates moderates the discussion throughout, as Plato's mouthpiece. Through Socrates' powerful and brilliant questions and explanations on a series of topics, the reader comes to understand what Plato's model society would look like. The basic plan of the Republic is to draw an analogy between the operation of society as a whole and the life of any individual human being. In this paper I will present Plato’s argument that the soul is divides into three parts. I will examine what these parts are, and I will also explain his arguments behind this conclusion. Finally, I will describe how Plato relates the three parts of the soul to a city the different social classes within that city.
This includes an important principle concerning conflict between desires, stating that opposite actions or states cannot be assigned to the same thing, in relation to the same object, at the same time. Therefore, desiring something and being opposed to it are opposites. This means that parts of the soul can conflict. In order to conflict because they cannot coexist in the same “state”, this is evidence that the human soul is composed of at least two distinct parts. One part can experience desire for something, while another part experiences aversion to it. For example, the “appetite” component of the soul can desire physical pleasures such as gluttony with food and sex, while “reason” knows that a ravenous desire to consume extravagant amounts of food and sex is not socially acceptable in society and will most likely lead to other problems as well. The Republic breaks down the tripartite soul further, assigning reason as knowledge and truth, for the purpose of guiding and regulating life. Reason is informed and can assess all parts of the soul individually and collected to make good decisions. Appetite is the “voice” of the body’s needs including safety, comfort, sex, food, and water. The appetite focuses on immediate gratification and pleasurable feelings. Plato believes that if an individual’s appetite’s basic
However, we can wonder if the pleasures that derive from necessary natural desires are what actually brings us happiness, since having a family, friends, a good job and doing fun things seem to bring the most joy in life. Plato’s ideas on life are even more radical, since he claims that we should completely take difference from our bodily needs. Therefore it seems that we should only do what is necessary for us to stay a life and solely focus on the mind. Although both ways of dealing with (bodily)pleasure are quite radical and almost impossible to achieve, it does questions if current perceptions of ‘living the good life’ actually leads to what we are trying to achieve, which is commonly described as
Humanity is in a constant process to better themselves, as a result of their self-transcending nature. The purpose of this process is to achieve an immortal soul. However, an individual cannot obtain this without first being educated in the system developed by Plato and after surpassing his methods, the individual will remain in a constant state of pursuing the classical virtues.
Socrates believes that through the virtue of justice, an individual’s soul will perform its function well. Virtue has the definition of a trait or characteristic that enables a thing to perform its function. With this virtue a soul is able to function, which is taking care of things such as ruling, deliberating, and living. These functions of the soul are unique to only the soul. A just persons soul is balanced between its three parts, the spirit, reason, and appetite. A person’s spirit functions as reasoning. Rational calculating is the second part of the soul, which is in charge of ruling. Appetites functions as our thirsts and desires. When all of these functions are in balance a just person is able to live “blessed and happy.” The blessed and happy finds justice in doing their own work; this is because “justice should be loved both for its own sake and for the sake of its consequences by anyone who is going to be blessed.” When parts of the soul are performing there natural functions this creates health in the body. For example we choose health because we don’t want to be sick, and ...
For Plato, the human soul is divided into three parts which have to function together in harmony. Reason, spirit, and appetite are together the soul. When an individual is unable to control one of these parts, chaos follows. In fact, Plato describes the soul as a charioteer pulled by two horses, where the charioteer is the reason and knows what he wants, but he needs the two horses to accomplish it. One horse is the spirit, which can be easily directed because it responds well. However, the other horse is the appetite, which is strong, and hard to control. For instance, the appetites are the human desires for pleasure and satisfaction, both mental and physical, and it takes discipline and determination to keep them contained. It is extremely important for a human being to
He believes that the soul takes shelter within the body. The three parts are all located in three different areas: reason is in the mind, spirited is in the heart, and desire is in the stomach. Reason is what controls the whole soul (Plato p. 49). The mind tells the body what to do, how to feel, what to say. The mind controls our appetites and decides who to honor according to memories about those people or events. The spirit is in the heart, the heart is what shows us how we feel about others. The stomach is desire as we crave to have certain possessions such as food or other physical materials in life. If what Plato is saying is any truth, than the argument presented that our soul is our life and our body is nothing but what carries our soul, is therefore false and unsupported by this idea of the mind, heart and stomach. Then so, our thought that Plato’s idea that we can make ourselves alive, is fairly reasonable and true. This is because it is more understandable to say that the reason why our souls are what makes us alive is because our souls are physically made of three parts that control the way we live. Our body is now not only what carries life for us, but what allows us to keep it. Our soul is different from the body because it represents life, but it is our body that allows our lives to
As a person exits childhood, gains higher education, works in different careers, and establishes a family, they grow and decide their own beliefs. Because of the way a person’s life changes as they grow older, their views on the world and their interpretation of what is right and what is wrong will be altered. This will cause their ethics and values to be an agglomeration of what a person has acquired from personal experiences and the influences of others. The development of values and ethics is a process that lasts a lifetime. For instance, a high school-aged girl’s idea of “the perfect man” may include characteristics such as kind, tall, handsome, funny, athletic, and popular. Once she is an adult, her idea of “the perfect man” may include traits such as hardworking, has a stable income, shares common interests, is working towards the same goals in life, and has a nice family. As this girl aged and matured, her values changed, and what she valued in a man changed too. Plato states in his work, The Allegory of the Cave, “You will not misapprehend me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world” (Plato 3). Plato calls the shift of the “soul into the intellectual world” a journey. This means that in order for a person to develop their values and ethics, they must complete a lifelong trek towards a final goal of knowing what they believe in and what they value. One does not have a breakthrough moment during their life in which their views on right and wrong are