In sections 246a - 254e of Phaedrus, Socrates uses the Chariot Allegory to explain his view of the human soul:
"Compare it to the combined capacities of a team of winged horses and their winged charioteer. Now, all the horses and charioteers of the gods are good and of good stock, but in other cases they are of mixed quality. In our case, the driver holds the reins of a pair of horses, one of which is noble and good and of similar stock, while the other is of the opposite stock and opposite in character. Thus, the driving in our case is inevitably difficult and troublesome..." He then goes on to distinguish the two horses that make up our soul: One horse is white and long necked, well bred, well behaved, and runs without a whip. The other is black and short-necked, badly bred, troublesome.
You can read 253c-254e to get the entire description, but I think Wikipedia sums it up rather nicely:
--The Charioteer represents intellect, reason, or the part of the soul that must guide the soul to truth.
--The White Horse represents rational or moral impulse or the positive part of passionate nature (e.g., righteous indignation)
--The Black Horse represents the soul's irrational passions, appetites, or concupiscent nature.
And it is the job of the charioteer to keep both of these horses in order, as they often try to go in separate directions. He must, apparently, guide these horses down a "heavenly journey" or path of enlightenment. If the charioteer cannot keep the dark horse in check, "it sinks down and drags him toward the earth, where hard toil and an ardous testing await the soul" (246e-249e).
What do you think of this psychology? I think it's a fair assessment of human nature. Humanity, it seems, has a "good side" and a "bad side." And it is up to our own rationality to keep them both (namely the bad side/dark horse) in check. It reminds me of that Native American myth I brought up in class a couple weeks ago. I found the actual myth online:
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, 'My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.'
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 'Which wolf wins?' The old Cherokee simply replied, 'The one you feed.'
So, what do you guys think? Is this an accurate portrayal of the human soul?
It's also interesting that Socrates suggests that the good horse always cooperates with the charioteer (254a). Does that mean that our souls are naturally inclined towards the Good, but it's an uncontrolled "bad horse" that takes us off that path? And the commentary in our book points out the bad horse's attraction to "the delights of sexual activity" and "terrible, unlawful things" (254a) as another negative connotation towards sexual intercourse and pure lust (p.154).
