Plato holds the dualist belief that the soul and body are separate but puts more emphasis on the idea that the soul is the true self and the body is temporary and imperfect. He sees the body more as a temporary vessel for earthly existence and a prison until the soul is released in the afterlife. Within the soul, Plato believes there are three parts. The rational, which refers to reason and wisdom. The spirited, which refers to courage and ambition. The appetitive, which refers to desires and instincts. Plato’s tripartite soul therefore suggests how the soul contains many aspects which often compete to control human actions and morality. Plato also believes that after death, the soul is released allowing it to return to the Realm of Forms.

Another view on the relationship between the body and the soul is Aristotle’s Hylomorphism. Hylomorphism refers to Aristotle’s theory that the body is the matter and the soul is the form. Aristotle rejected Plato’s strict dualism and the belief that the soul can exist independently from the body. Instead, he believed that the soul gives the body life and identity, meaning the body and soul are connected and cannot exist separately. To explain this, Aristotle uses the idea of a wax stamp. The wax refers to the matter/body and the shape stamped into it is the form/soul. You cannot separate the shape from the wax without destroying the object itself, which Aristotle believed was similar to the relationship between the soul and the body. Aristotle also believed there were three types of soul: the vegetative soul, responsible for growth and nutrition, the sensitive soul, responsible for emotions and movement, and the rational soul, responsible for reason and reflection which is found only in humans.

Aquinas combines Aristotles and Platos ideas with Christianity where he agreed that the soul is the form of the body but believed that the rational soul is immaterial and survives after death. He therefore moves away from Plato’s strict dualism and the negative association of the body being a prison for the soul and instead believes that the body and the soul work together in the earth to carry out its purpose. Depending on the Christian denomination, some believe that the soul and the body will reunite when humans are resurrected which maintains a strong relationship between body and soul.