Dissertation committee:
1. Καθηγητής Αρχαίας Ελληνικής Γραμματείας Γεώργιος Βασίλαρος, Επιβλέπων.
2. Καθηγήτρια Φιλοσοφίας Ευαγγελία Μαραγγιανού, Μέλος.
3. Καθηγητής Φιλοσοφίας Παναγιώτης Πανταζάκος, Μέλος.
4. Καθηγητής Φιλοσοφίας Ιωάννης Καλογεράκος, Μέλος.
5. Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Φιλοσοφίας Ελένη Περδικούρη, Μέλος.
6. Καθηγητής Φιλοσοφίας Γεώργιος Αραμπατζής, Μέλος.
7. Καθηγητής Φιλοσοφίας Γεώργιος Στείρης, Μέλος.
Summary:
At the core of the central problematic of the present doctoral thesis is the Soul
(Psyche), whose existence preoccupies humanity long before the Pre-Socratic
philosophers. Specifically, the research interest is focused on the positions of Aristotle
and the Neoplatonists, Plotinus and Proclus, from whose dense thought the problems
will be demonstrated, mainly in the context of the soul (psyche)-body, soul (psyche)-
matter and dualism-monism relationship. My main aim is that the study to be a
comprehensive attempt to delve into a fundamental aspect of philosophical
psychology.The approach of the soul by the three philosophers, undoubtedly, starts
from ontological questions and assumptions, regarding what is essence, what is spirit,
what is matter and what is the identity of being, with cause and purpose of its existence,
with the existence of God, with knowledge, with how the world is divided into the
conceivable and the sensible, with what lies the relationship between soul and body,
with how bliss is achieved and the approach to the Good, with the role of the Mind,
Time, the One and the Creator.
Aristotle was a thinker who diligently dealt with the question of the soul
(psyche), marking the first systematic psychology and providing answers to the
problem of the relationship or distinction between soul (psyche) and body. At the same
time, he connected the individual functions and parts of the soul in a single systematic
view and finally synthesized his concept of the soul with his corresponding physical,
biological, political and ethical positions.Plotinus placed the problem of the life of the
human soul (psyche) on a personal basis, having previously followed an inward path,
clothed in a cloak of mysticism. Plotinus' view of the soul (psyche) is actually a
philosophy of life, according to which the individual soul pursues its mystical course
until it achieves its union with the One and the completion of its nature. Plotinus refers
to the power of the presence of the divine element in the human soul and points to the
necessity of detachment from the needs of sense. Plotinus' thought is metaphysical and
mystical. For Proclus the soul (psyche) is an entity that lies between born and true
beings, composed of an alloy of intermediate genera, connected to the totality of
mediates, harmonized on the basis of diatonic harmony, capable of living a double and
a single life at the same time. Unlike Aristotle, Proclus does not accept that the soul
(psyche) is the essence of an embodied physical, potentially living organism. The pre-
locked soul (psyche) becomes the divided image of the Mind with the involvement of
the intellect, which ultimately turns it towards the Mind.
The approaches of the three philosophers are not without difficulties and
problems, which have preoccupied younger and modern scholars. The present study
touches upon issues concerning the relationship of the soul with matter. In the dense
and polydaidal Aristotelian reasoning, problems arise regarding entelechy and
phylomorphism, while in the equally complex Plotinian psychology, problems arise
regarding Plotinus' criticism of Aristotelian thinking about the relationship between
soul (psyche) and body, soul and matter. Similarly, Proclus criticized his predecessor
Plotinus on the question of evil in the soul (psyche), but he himself did not escape the
scope. Inevitably, the focus on problems for understanding the soul (psyche)-matter
relationship is related to the question of transition from dualism to monism. For the
completion of the thesis, the researcher used the method of philosophical text-centered
analysis
Keywords:
Soul (Psyche), Psychology,, Aristotle, Neoplatonism, Plotinuw, Proclus
