The Theoretical Development and the Renewal of Plato’s Philosophy of Emotions

Plato’s philosophy of emotions takes a significant role in shaping the Western spirit of values.While the ancient Greek epics involves a great deal of descriptions of emotional phenomena in heroes and gods,the first systematic philosophical exploration was originated from Plato.The shaping of his philosophy of emotions underwent a long and complicated process.Attending to various phases of Plato’s writings,I shall argue that his theory of the emotional soul has experienced a transformation of the soul-body dichotomy to the tripartite theory of the soul,in which a dynamic model of inner circulating and compounded structures has been developed.However,this inner theoretical contribution cannot be viewed as the final orientation in Plato’s The Republic.Instead,we should pay more attention to a positive adjustment of the functions of emotions in his late philosophical writings such as Timaeus and the Laws,which provided a solid foundation for Western ethical values and the philosophical tradition of emotions.