A comparison with some passages of Thucydides (for instance, Melian dialogue and the pathology of war) will belong to my exposition. I will mainly base my interpretation on passages of the Republic (especially from book IV, V, VI, VII and IX of the Republic) references to other works of Plato like Gorgias, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Timaeus and the Laws will, however, be present in my analysis. My thesis as regards the possible solutions offered by Plato in order to reach a liberation from the Evil will consist in interpreting the whole process of knowledge described by Plato as a kind of indispensable therapy against the evil component present in each of us. Basing on different passages of Plato’s Republic, I would like to analyse in my contribution the following subjects: the presence of good and evil desires and pleasures in the soul the contrast between the rational part and the appetitive part together with the contrast between desires of the rational part and desires of the appetitive part the presence of Evil in each person, which is located in the appetitive part of the soul, the dangers that this part represents both for the individual and for every society, and the strategies proposed by Plato to put Evil in us under control the process of degeneration of a state and the causes of the death of a state in relation to the prevalence in a society and in the individual of the evil components the processes of individuals’ internalization of the bad conditions of a society and of individuals’ externalization of the bad conditions of the souls into a society the presence of Evil in the human history as a meta-historical presence rooted in the very structure of the men, independently of the particular historical age (we are the Evil, therefore the Evil will be always present in the human history). It seems, on the contrary, rather difficult to explain the possibility of Good in the human dimension, since a good disposition of the soul does not seem so easy to be arrived at. On the basis of the description of the structure of the soul in Republic IX (and, to a certain extent, of Republic IV too), it does not seem, therefore, particularly difficult to explain the presence of Evil in the human dimension. Thus, men have in themselves emotions being able to destroy everybody and everything. This soul component appears to be a kind of “antireason”. This predisposition is not accidental: on the contrary, it belongs to the very nature of men, since a terrible, savage, and lawless form of desires is present in every person, even in the seemingly most measured persons. Plato asserts, among other things, that a component of our soul, at least while sleeping, does not omit any act of folly or shamelessness: human beings are capable of every crime. The presence of an evil factor in men's soul is attested, for instance, in Republic IX, 571b3-572b9, and in Republic 588b1-589b7. Abstract My contribution is dedicated to the analysis of some aspects of Evil in Plato. Do not leave your past behind instead make your past the bedrock of your present and your future.PDF-PowerPoint presentation of the talk I gave on Tuesday, 29th January 2019 at the 4th Braga Colloquium in the History of Moral and Political Philosophy, The Politics of Emotions, Historical Insights and Contemporary Challenges, January 29-30, 2019. Then - maybe - you’ll focus more on what’s ahead than those that already happened. Instead of thinking about those regrets or feeling contrite about it, find the reason behind those regrets. If you still don’t have an idea for that reason then make it a habit to be keen observant not with other peoples’ lives but with your life. But have you ever thought that - maybe just maybe - our past was like that for a reason? And - maybe - that reason could be found in our present life or in our future. Many would use it to go back to their past and change it. If time machines existed and could be bought anywhere, I'm pretty sure many would patronize it. We tend to understate the impact of our past to our future because we think that it doesn’t matter anymore but it 100% does. We asked ourselves series of questions like “What if I have done this?” “What if I did not?” And no matter how much we argue that past is past, past will always be part of our present and our future. Usually, regrets are connected to our past. “What if’s” scenarios create fears and hold us back from doing what we want. Regrets are our “What if’s?” This kind of monster destroys our ability to be futuristic.
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