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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Platonic theories of the perfect state and the human soul in Gulliver's voyage to Houyhnmland

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This article discusses the various ways in which Platonic philosophy shapes Houyhnhnmland as described in Voyage IV of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver's Travels. As a means to do so, it takes into consideration Plato’s Republic and his theories on the perfect state, as well as the Greek philosopher’s dialogue Phaedrus, which contains the Platonic theory of the tripartite human soul. The final claim of this article is that both the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos are “pure souls” made up of just one of the three soul components pointed out by Plato (namely, the appetites in the case of the Yahoos, and the rational part in that of the Houyhnhnms). In contrast with both, man constitutes an ambiguous and complex being with a multi-natured soul that shares features with the Yahoos and the Houyhnhnms alike.