The Phaedrus and Laws X

In the Phaedrus Plato defines the soul as ‘that which moves itself’ (to auto heauto kinoun, 245e7-8), and in Laws X he defines it as ‘the motion that has the property of moving itself ‘ (tȇn dunamenȇn autȇn hautȇn kinein kinȇsin, 896a1-2, tr. T. Griffith). But there is a difference. In the Phaedrus the soul is emphatically agenȇton, i.e. it ‘cannot come into being’, as Hackforth translates agenȇton at 245 d1, ‘does not come into being’, as he translates agenȇton at 246d3, and ‘is not born’, as he translates agenȇton at 246a1. But in Laws X the soul is genomenȇ ‘it has come into being’, as Griffith translates genomenȇ at 892a5. Plato goes on: ‘But if this is so (ei d’estin tauta houtȏs), then things related to soul must necessarily have come into being earlier than things belonging to body, mustn’t they (ar’ ouk ex anankȇs ta psuchȇs sungenȇ protera an eiȇ gegonota tȏn sȏmati prosȇkontȏn), since soul is older than body (ousȇs autȇs presbuteras ȇ sȏmatos;)?’

Malcolm Schofield in his note on the given passage explains away Plato’s insistence that ‘soul must necessarily have come into being earlier than things belonging to body, since soul is older than body. He says: ‘By “older”, the Athenian here as elsewhere means no more than “metaphysically and causally more fundamental”.’

But this won’t do, for in the Timaeus, which stands in between the Phaedrus and the Laws, Plato maintains that only a very small portion of mankind (genos brachu ti, 51e6) can see the Forms. This is why the soul had to be created, for in the Palinode in the Phaedrus it was the eternal uncreated soul (agenȇton), which saw the Forms prior to its first incarnation, that made human speech possible. For a man must understand in accordance with Form what’s said, ‘coming out of many sense perceptions (ek pollȏn ion aisthȇseȏn), brought into unity by reasoning (eis hen logismȏi sunairoumenon); and this is a recollection of those things (touto d’ estin anamnȇsis ekeinȏn), which our soul once saw (ha pot’ eiden hȇmȏn hȇ psuchȇ) when she travelled in company with God (sumporeutheisa theȏi) … and rose up to what really is (kai anakupsasa eis to on ontȏs).’ (249b7-c4)

When Plato realised that only a tiny portion of humanity can see the Forms, the humans had to be created, endowed by their creator with the capacity to understand the spoken word, which is ‘coming out of many sense perceptions’. Plato was well aware that sense perceptions mediating speech between men, flowing through the air, are fundamentally different from the words they mediate. The words, which are in the mind of the speaker, as they are spoken, give rise to many sense perceptions, which hit the ear of the listener, and are turned into words in the mind of the listener.