The Appetitive Soul in Plato's Republic

My research seeks to offer a systematic study of Plato's conception of the appetitive soul-part as it is presented in the Republic. The appetitive soul-part- the source of our desires for objects such as food, drink, and sex- is central to a human life, and Plato offers a philosophically insightful account of this centre of human motivation.

Yet how best to interpret Plato's discussion of appetite has proved controversial, with interpreters providing a wide array of answers to such questions as the cognitive resources of this soul-part, the basis of its unity, the characterisation of its desires, etc.

I hope to answer many of these questions and in doing so offer a comprehensive, systematic account of Plato's understanding of appetite in the Republic. Such an account seeks to go beyond the more obviously 'psychological' sections of Plato's arguments in the Republic, and will importantly include an account of Plato's educational theory and a discussion of Plato's political thought, especially the role of the producer class in the city- the civic analogue to appetite in the soul.

Studying appetite within this broad context will allow for a greater understanding of appetite's role in Plato's psychological theory, and in addition underline and explicate its importance in the broader ethico-political theory of the Republic, in turn shedding new light on those aspects of Plato's work. Further, I expect that, as with other areas of Plato's philosophy, his psychological theory can be seen to have continued relevance in a wide array of contemporary philosophical areas, such as ethics, philosophy of action, and philosophy of education.