APQ - APPON PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY

This paper attempts to metaphysically synergize the concept of the soul as the principle of life within the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas. According to Plato, man is defined as a divine, immortal soul inhabiting a material and perishable body. In this structure, the soul fulfils a biological function, serves as the subject of knowledge, and acts as a moral agent. In the Republic, Plato develops a dualist conception of the soul, characterizing it as an immaterial, tripartite, and immortal substance that pre-exists the body and attains knowledge through the recollection of the Forms. The body, in this view, is conceived as a prison or tomb that distracts the soul from the pursuit of truth. Conversely, Aristotle presents a different perspective, asserting that man, like all being-substances, is composed of both body and soul. He argues that no separate existence of “man-soul” or “man-body” exists, as Plato taught; instead, man exists as a composition of body and soul. In this way, Aristotle refutes Platonic dualism, contending that the soul is not the sole essence of man. For Aristotle, the human being, through reason, a function of the soul, transcends the world. He posits that the soul, as the first act of a living natural body, encompasses not only vegetative and sensitive functions but also higher intellectual capacities such as thinking and volition. While Plato locates the essence of the soul outside the physical world, Aristotle situates it as the immanent cause of life. However, this raises the aporia of how an immaterial intellect can arise from material generation. Employing a comparative-metaphysical method through textual analysis of primary and secondary sources, this paper argues that Aquinas resolves the tension by synthesizing both positions: the soul is the substantial form of the body, yet it is also a subsistent, immaterial substance directly created by God. In this way, Aquinas preserves both Aristotelian embodiment and Platonic immortality, offering a unified account of human nature.

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