柏拉圖在其早期對話錄，如《辯護篇》（The Apology）、《艾爾奇比亞德斯上篇》（The Alcibiades I）及《高爾奇亞斯篇》（The Gorgias），多次呼籲雅典人，特別是雅典的政治軍事領袖，應照顧關心個人與公民們的靈魂；然而關於如何照顧靈魂這幾部對話錄中皆無細節之敘述。這篇文章之論述主要希望達成兩個目的：第一、藉由對這幾部對話錄中關於照顧靈魂的段落進行爬梳，希望證明在早期對話錄中隱含《理想國篇》的靈魂三分之概念。換言之，柏拉圖在早、中期對話錄中對靈魂的內在結構之說明並無二致；第二、若在早期對話錄中有著靈魂三分的概念，那關於靈魂照顧之細節便可在《理想國篇》兩階段，一專技的教育制度的設計得到說明。

Plato in his early dialogues, such as the Apology, Alcibiades I, and Gorgias, exhorts the Athenians, especially those who are political leaders or military generals, to pay attention in caring for their own souls and souls of the citizens. However, how to care for the soul is not described in detail in these dialogues. This paper explores two related topics: First, by virtue of looking into the dialogues, I hope that the idea of the tripartite soul explicitly featured in the Republic can be shown to be hidden in these early dialogues; Second, if the idea of the tripartite soul implicitly exists in the early dialogues, then the passages on the system of education in the Republic can provide the problem of how to take care of one's soul in lieu of a detailed account.