Need Help in Psychology report!

[Doge]

Plato
- he said that "Mind has a distinct power and is God-given"

Can anyone futher explain to me the meaning of Mind has a distinct power?

[haiqtpi]

I would imagine that you could take the position that human consciousness is a vastly uncharted and unpredictable part of our existence (not to mention that our degree of cognitive virtuosity is unique to our species). You could go a step further and argue that Plato may attribute this to reasons mentioned in his story (the symposium if I recall correctly) about androgyny and finding our soul mates. You could argue that in terms of personality and emotions (in response to different stimuli) their uniqueness (in Plato's mind) is a product similar to the fact that we each have one "soul mate" (though I don't recall what term he used).

[User5931]

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Maybe try starting with mind/body theories?

[haiqtpi]

It depends on what level we are talking though. I cannot see HS going in depth into mind-body theory lol I feel like they wouldnt be asking this question if they were university level (no shade).

[Mama Bear]

I would imagine that you could take the position that human consciousness is a vastly uncharted and unpredictable part of our existence (not to mention that our degree of cognitive virtuosity is unique to our species). You could go a step further and argue that Plato may attribute this to reasons mentioned in his story (the symposium if I recall correctly) about androgyny and finding our soul mates. You could argue that in terms of personality and emotions (in response to different stimuli) their uniqueness (in Plato's mind) is a product similar to the fact that we each have one "soul mate" (though I don't recall what term he used).

I love the symposium. It's such a great way to express the complicated emotion we call 'love'. Hedwig and the Angry Inch has a song based upon it, 'The Origin of Love.'

I found an analogy about Plato's elements of the psyche that may help you understand the quote. It's about the mind being able to control the rest of a being, despite opposing forces.

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Plato's three elements of the psyche are

The appetites, which includes all our myriad desires for various pleasures, comforts, physical satisfactions, and bodily ease. There are so many of these appetites that Plato does not bother to enumerate them, but he does note that they can often be in conflict even with each other. This element of the soul is represented by the ugly black horse on the left.

The spirited, or hot-blooded, part, i.e., the part that gets angry when it perceives (for example) an injustice being done. This is the part of us that loves to face and overcome great challenges, the part that can steel itself to adversity, and that loves victory, winning, challenge, and honor. (Note that Plato's use of the term "spirited" here is not the same as "spiritual." He means "spirited" in the same sense that we speak of a high-spirited horse, for example, one with lots of energy and power.) This element of the soul is represented by the noble white horse on the right.

The mind (nous), our conscious awareness, is represented by the charioteer who is guiding (or who at least should be guiding) the horses and chariot. This is the part of us that thinks, analyzes, looks ahead, rationally weighs options, and tries to gauge what is best and truest overall.