Do trees teach?

Reflection on othernessin Plato´s Phaedrus

Abstract

In Phaedrus, philosophy is considered a kind of psychagogy, since, through discourse, the soul is conducted and affected by the other. The dialogue occurs in a relational movement, as it consists of a periple for two beyond the walls of the city, at the same time, the dialogue discusses the issue of the autonomous movement of the soul. There is a natural upwards tendency to the soul, since it causes its own movement, as it manages the movement of the body, nevertheless, it is affected by the power of discourse, which can leverage or inhibit this tendency. The conduction of the soul is possible because it contains, in its structure itself, an intelligible principle that conveys it, therefore, the autonomy of the soul before the power of discourse gives rhetoric some limitations. But if the soul is paramount over discourses, it is necessary to recognize that its conduction presumes otherness; in this sense the soul's autonomy as cause of the movement doesn't assume a radical autonomy that would dispose of the other. The dialogue demands an effective encounter with the other and it is only in this sense that Plato considers it superior to writing, after all true discourse is written on the soul, alive and soulful word that assumes a healthy relationship with the other.

Keywords: Soul. Otherness. Psychagogy.