Plato’s writings are known as his Dialogues. He is essentially a dualist. He draws a line of demarcation between the spirit and the flesh, between the body and the mind, the Idea and the particular object. Such dualism lends itself easily to the popular mind.

Is Plato a dualist or idealist?

Platonism and neoplatonism Plato was therefore a metaphysical and epistemological dualist, an outlook that modern idealism has striven to avoid: Plato’s thought cannot therefore be counted as idealist in the modern sense.

Why does Plato believe in dualism?

Plato argued that the mind and body are fundamentally different because the mind is rational, which means that examining the mind can lead to truth. In contrast to this, we cannot believe anything we experience via the senses, which are part of the body, because they can be tricked.