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  • Chapter 4 - In the Spirit of Plato

  • Edited by Frances B. Titchener, Utah State University, Alexei V. Zadorojnyi, University of Liverpool
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Companion to Plutarch
    Published online:
    29 June 2023
    Print publication:
    13 July 2023, pp 79-100

  • Summary

    Plutarch the philosopher is present in all his texts. His allegiance is not in doubt: he is a follower of Plato, who is open-minded to other schools, as far as their views are reconcilable with Plato’s. He is above all committed to the dialogical spirit pervading Plato’s works. In several more technical treatises, he develops the core of his philosophical views. These have to do with the composition of the world-soul and its image, the human soul. From there, Plutarch develops his views on moral psychology: it is the task of reason, the divine presence in us, to control the irrational passions. This idea forms the basis of various texts in which the therapy of the soul and the development of character are the central goals. Plutarch’s concept of philosophy and his doctrinal stance are quite different from what we find in later Platonism. Later doxographical reports on Plutarch are not always reliable.