SOUL/MIND-BODY PROBLEM IN ANCIENT GREEK: PRE-PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRE-SOCRATIC PERIODS

Abstract

Soul/mind-body problem is one of the most significant problems of the philosophy of mind that increasingly taxes philosophers’ brains. Although the mind-body problem is mainly associated with the name of the French philosopher Rene Descartes, essentially its origination dates back to ancient times. Like many philosophical issues mind/soul-body problem too started to be discussed in ancient Greece. However, there were various opinions on the soul amongst Greeks. The idea of an immaterial soul, usually associated with Plato, was not popular among the first Greek philosophers except for Pythagoras. In pre-Socratic philosophy and in Homeric texts which represent the pre-philosophical period, we do not observe substantial dualism. This article, which is an attempt to discuss the idea of the soul and soul-body relations of the Homeric and pre-Socratic periods, exploring ancient Greeks’ understanding of the matter, tries to analyze the evolution of this problem before Socrates.