A Structural Etiology of the U.S. Constitution

Abstract

This paper attempts to interpret the problems and the eventual purpose of the United States government while simultaneously explaining its continued existence by analyzing the three part structure of the United States Federal government as outlined in the Constitution — and subsequently interpreted by all three parts of the government — through the lens of the Platonic paradigm of logos, thymos, and eros as explained in Plato’s dialogues. The major premise of the paper is Plato’s three-part soul. The minor premise is the three-part structure of the United States government. The syllogism is the analysis in the paper attempts to show how each part of the Platonic soul represents itself in the three parts of judiciary for logos, executive for thymos, and legislature for eros.