Plato defines justice as the harmony of the various parts of the soul (rational, spirited, appetitive)

(Platonic) idea of moving from plurality to unity - from the soul being tossed in many directions and restless, to being at rest.

Those who are familiar with Plato’s Republic know that in that work, Plato defines justice as the harmony of the various parts of the soul (rational, spirited, appetitive), and here Augustine, though Christianizing this Platonic idea, seems to say something quite similar. Just as Plato suggests that inner dis-harmony is detrimental to the soul, so in a similar (but Christianized) vein Augustine says that when our loves are dis-ordered we are restless and our attempts at finding true rest in created things rather than the Creator proves futile-we fall to pieces.

So we see that from the very opening paragraph of the Confessions, Augustine is weaving together various melodies from various traditions, yet the harmony created is decisively Christian. Augustine and Plato on “Going to Pieces” and the Dis-Harmony of the Soul from Per Caritatem by Cynthia R. Nielsen