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The Art of Manliness Continued Plato argued,"the best part [Reason] is naturally weak in a man so that it cannot govern and control the brood of beasts within him but can only serve them and can learn nothing but the ways of flattering them." Obtaining Harmony of Soul JOBS for TEAMS The masterful charioteer does not ignore his own motivations, nor the desires of thumos and appetite, but neither does he let his two horses run wild. He lets Reason rule, takes stock of all his desires, identifies his best and truest ones – those that lead to virtue and truth — and guides his horses towards them. He does not ignore or indulge them – he harnesses them. Each horse has its strengths and weaknesses, and the white horse can lead a man into the wrong path just as the dark horse can, but when properly trained, thumos becomes the ally of the charioteer.Together, reason and thumos work to pull the appetites into sync. Instead of having "civil war amongst them," the deft charioteer understands each role the three forces of his soul play, and he guides them in carrying out that role without either entirely usurping their role, nor allowing them to interfere with each other. He achieves harmony amongst the elements.Thus, instead of dissipating his energies in contradictory and detrimental directions, he channels those energies towards his goals. Achieving this harmony of soul, Plato argues, is a precursor to tackling any other endeavor of life: "having first attained to self-mastery and beautiful order within himself, and having harmonized these three principles, the notes or intervals of three terms quite literally the lowest, the highest, and the mean, and all others there may be between them, and having linked and bound all three together and made of himself a unit, one man instead of many, self-controlled and in unison, he should then and then only turn to practice if he find aught to do either in the getting of wealth or the tendance of the body or it may be in political action or private business, in all such doings believing and naming the just and honorable action to be that which preserves and helps to produce this condition of soul." The foundational nature of gaining mastery over one's soul, Plato continues, "is the chief reason why it should be our main concern that each of us, neglecting all other studies, should seek after and study this thing—if in any way he may be able to learn of and discover the man who will give him the ability and the knowledge to distinguish the life that is good from that which is bad, and always and everywhere to choose the best that the conditions allow." A man that makes this pursuit his aim, and allows it to guide all his thoughts and actions,"will gladly take part in and enjoy those which he thinks will make him a better man, but in public and private life he will shun those that may overthrow the established habit of his soul." Taking Flight and Progressing in Our Journey As you'll remember, in the allegory of the chariot, the chariot falls from the heavens when the horses do not receive adequate nourishment from the Forms, or when the horses rebel and the charioteer does a poor job of directing them. They lose their wings, and must stay on earth until they regrow – a process which is hastened by remembering what one saw before the fall. Plato believed that discovering all truth was not a process of learning, but of remembering what one once knew. His philosophy may be interpreted liter- | 20 JobsForTeams1013_manliness.indd 3 www.jobsforteams.com 9/4/13 3:32 PM