Andrew Marvell, A Dialogue Between Soul and Body

Andrew Marvell's A Dialogue Between Soul and Body is a witty exploration of the relation between the two discrete entities that all significant philosophers, ancient and modern, recognize, namely that of the soul and body. Rene Descartes' 'new philosophy', with its presentation of the dualism as that of 'mind' and 'body', while continuing in understanding the discrete entities, nonetheless is problematic insofar as he reduces the soul to a mind, and effectively cuts out the 'thymos', the 'spirited element' that Greek philosophers regarded as essential to human nature and the main subject of proper education.

Acknowledging the importance of the 'spirited element' of human nature is what leads these writers, whether pagan or Christian, to regard education as training in wisdom and virtue. The Cartesian reframing of anthropology effectively undermines this view, though it will take centuries for the consequences of his error to be played out.

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