Susan . MeyerReese, Brian2023-05-222001-01-012020-02-072019-01-012020-02-07https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/30700This dissertation addresses an interpretive puzzle involving Plato’s apparently incompatible accounts of psychic conflict. I argue that a better understanding of the soul helps to resolve this puzzle, and that we can properly understand Plato’s conception of the soul by focusing on his account of self-mastery (τὸ κρείττω ἑαυτοῦ). Self-mastery is a concept well-suited to this project because it is treated consistently across Plato’s dialogues and features centrally in discussions of psychic conflict.163 p.application/pdfBrian ReeseEthics and Political PhilosophyMetaphysicsPsychologyDissertation/Thesis