and this accords with our anticipations, for sleep is an inactivity of the soul, in so far as it is denominated good or bad, except that in some wise some of its movements find their way through the veil and so the good come to have better dreams than ordinary men. But enough of this: we must forego any further mention of the nutritive part, since it is not naturally capable of the Excellence which is peculiarly human.
And there seems to be another Irrational Nature of the Soul, which yet in a way partakes of Reason. For in the man who controls his appetites, and in him who resolves to do so and fails, we praise the Reason or Rational part of the Soul, because it exhorts aright and to the best course: but clearly there is in them, beside the Reason, some other natural principle which fights with and strains against the Reason. (For in plain terms, just as paralysed limbs of the body when their owners would move them to the right are borne aside in a contrary direction to the left, so is it in the case of the Soul, for the impulses of men who cannot control their appetites are to contrary points: the difference is that in the case of the body we do see what is borne aside but in the case of the soul we do not. But, it may be, not the less on that account[1] are we to suppose that there is in the Soul also somewhat besides the Reason, which is opposed to this and goes against it; as to how it is different, that is irrelevant.)
But of Reason this too does evidently partake, as we have said: for instance, in the man of self-control it obeys Reason: and perhaps in the man of perfected self-mastery,[2]or the brave man, it is yet more obedient; in them it agrees entirely with the Reason.
So then the Irrational is plainly twofold: the one part, the merely vegetative, has no share of Reason, but that of desire, or appetition generally, does partake of it in a sense, in so far as it is obedient to it and capable of submitting to its rule. (So too in common phrase we say we have λόγος of
- ↑ P. 24, l. 23. The unseen is at least as real as the seen.
- ↑ P. 24, l. 29. The terms are borrowed from the Seventh Book, and are here used in their strict philosophical meaning. The ἐγκρατὴς is he who has bad or unruly appetites, but whose reason is strong enough to keep them under. The ἀκρατὴς is he whose appetites constantly prevail over his reason and previous good resolutions.
By the law of habits the former is constantly approximating to a state in which the appetites are wholly quelled. This state is called σωφροσύνη, and the man in it σώφρων. By the same law, the remonstrances of reason in the latter grow fainter and fainter till they are silenced for ever. This state is called ἀκολασία, and the man in it ἀκόλαστος.
