Cornell faculty members Tad Brennan and Charles Brittain have co-edited (with Rachel Barney of the University of Toronto) a new book examining Plato's famous account of the tripartite soul, one of the Greek philosopher's most influential but little-understood theories.

"Plato and the Divided Self," published by Cambridge University Press, was released Feb. 16 in the United Kingdom and continental Europe.

In such dialogues as "The Republic," "Phaedrus" and "Timaeus," Plato presented human nature as essentially multiple and diverse and yet somehow also one; divided into a fully human "rational" part, a lion-like "spirited" part and an "appetitive" part akin to a many-headed beast.

How the parts interact, how each shapes our agency, and how they are affected by such phenomena as sexual desire and education, is complicated and controversial.

The essays in the 408-page book investigate how Plato's theory evolved over the whole of his work, and how it was developed further by ancient Platonists, including Galen, Plutarch and Plotinus. Brennan contributed an essay, "The Nature of the Spirited Part of the Soul, and its Object."

Brittain is a professor of classics and of philosophy and chair of the Department of Classics. Brennan is a professor of philosophy and of classics and a house fellow at Hans Bethe House. They have also collaborated on a two-volume translation of "Simplicius' Commentary on Epictetus' Encheiridion" (2002).

Information: http://www.cambridge.org/9780521899666.