People often wonder, “What does soul mean?”, a lot of people ask this question without a single thought about what that question actually means. On the Soul by Aristotle, translated by Joe Sachs gives us an insight into what it means to have souls and what they are.

Confused Soul

In reality asking what a soul is is like asking what it means to be alive. Therefore this subject can be subjective depending on each person. While this is true, Aristotle takes many people’s past theories and refutes them in his book. Knowing that it is a subjective topic,  instead of trying to make a definition, he in a way gives advice on how to look at the soul and its value.

Soul Hierarchy

First, let’s go through what being alive means, and what does and doesn’t have soul in the most basic sense. Let’s start from the most basic step, to be alive isn’t just to exist because inanimate objects such as rocks and mountains exist as well. To be alive also isn’t just feeling, as plants and many other primitive organisms can feel as well. This is where we finally begin to see the most basic versions of the soul. Finally living is not just being self aware since it has been proven that whales and dolphins have been known to be self aware and can even communicate. 

Out of all of this the thing that puts the human soul apart from the rest is that we question our own existence and strive for meaning. Human kind does this and tries to find meaning through theory and religion. This is a form of contemplation, which in Aristotle’s view, only humans can do.

Contemplation

The most prevalent idea mentioned in On the Soul, is that the soul is obtained through contemplation. Well, you might ask yourself, “What is contemplation? ”. Contemplation, as Aristotle puts it, is seeing and absorbing all that is to be seen without trying to make sense of it. What usually happens when we see a painting for example is we try to connect things in the painting and try to make sense of it through thought, this by Aristotle’s terms is known as step-by-step thinking. Contemplation in this context is looking at the painting and just staring at it merely taking it in for what it is and not for what we see it as. In other words the thing that makes contemplation such an interesting topic is that in a way it’s like our subconscious (the passive thinking within our brains). We don’t understand the painting but we feel the painting. 

Theory

Another way to think about contemplation is through theory. Theory in this context is referred to as religion, this is humans trying to justify our existence and the meaning of living. The reason it’s called theory is because when someone refers to their religion they say “I believe in…”. That phrase in itself is a form of contemplation as some humans believe in something much greater. This doesn’t mean that non-religious people can’t have soul, this just means that it is another piece of humans that sets us apart from the rest of the other beings.

Experience

Another part of the soul is experiences in our lives. In reality there is no shortcut to acquiring knowledge about the soul. Soul is a process in itself meaning that this article and even a wikipedia article is only a window through what soul is. 

I interviewed someone who has read On the Soul but would like to remain anonymous.

A quote from them was, “You have to undergo the intellectual experience laid out in the inquiry in order to experience directly what it means to acquire knowledge of the soul.”

This is why reading On the Soul is in a sense a process itself and why Aristotle tries not to come to a definite conclusion, only advice and a method of thinking. You have to undergo the experience of the book to not only experience the soul but also understand it. The book itself is a journey.

Relevance

People may ask, “Why is knowing what the soul is important?”. While it is mostly optional and up to you as a person whether it matters to know or not, I think it is something that’ll allow people to have a deeper understanding about who they are as a person. In other words never knowing about the soul is like living with your eyes shut, never knowing why you do the things you do. You might go to work everyday and be content with your life but at the end of the day does it make you feel whole. In a sense when will you as a person stop wanting and humbly accept what you already have. We seek out the soul as a way for deeper understanding, in other words, a means to an end in itself.

Takeaways

Do not take this article as a means of trying to understand the soul. This was meant to be a glance at what the soul is and to have a basic understanding of it. Reading On the Soul is an experience worth going through to have a deeper understanding of the soul and the true way to experience it.