Pre-existence

The belief that the soul existed prior to union with the physical body is common to many religions and philosophies, although details and interpretations differ. Many look on life in the physical body as a punishment or the inevitable result of deeds in a previous life (Hindu, Buddhist). For Plato, the embodied soul has three elements: the cognitive soul controlling the body but debased by it; the appetitive soul (the senses); the courageous soul, linking the first two. Generally only the first is thought of as pre-existing. A common view is the essential nature of the soul, as the breath of life permeating the body or as life itself clothed with the body, which is subordinate.