The Painter in the Soul and True Anticipatory Pleasure in Plato’s Philebus

Abstract

This paper examines the role of the painter in the Philebus. I will maintain that the painter in the soul does not daydream about her future state. At the same time, the images she illustrates are not precisely the same as logoi of the scribe in the soul. This paper argues that imagination, which is the source of the agent’s hope, is essential to living a good life, i.e., the theme of the Philebus. The rational part of human beings would not account for everything they experience. The Socrates in the Philebus argues that both body and soul should work together to find appropriate pleasure in any situation. To correctly and thus truly expect future events and subsequently experience true anticipatory pleasure, an agent needs more than a rational soul, which is usually regarded as a ‘calculating machine.’ To picture her future life, it is not enough for the agent to consider cold-headedly existing resources and conditions as well as possible outcomes. Sometimes she should dream about something much bigger than what she now deems reasonable. Images provided by the painter lead an agent in the imaginary and hypothetical situation and help her experience what she would feel there. The painter’s image helps the agent desire the measured state and, eventually, the good life. While hoping for something true and therefore good with images, the agent should be able to enjoy the true (anticipatory) pleasure. The painter in the soul provides imagination so that a whole person’s rational and affective parts work together to live a good life.