Plato Symposium Essay

Aditya Mankare adityamankare@gmail.com Human Situation Dr. Brandon Lamson 13th November 2017 “Love as a Tool for Personal Gain” Plato’s Symposium depicts a party, at which several historical figures discuss at length about their numerous perspectives of Love – both the God and the idea of Eros. The whole idea of the Symposium was to uncover the true meaning of love. Socrates is obsessed with the mystery of love and how we should understand its importance. Love can be defined as a force compelling

In Plato’s Symposium, a group of philosophers all get together at a man named Agathon’s house and eventually decide to give speeches on love. The men all take turns giving their various speeches on Love, each attacking the idea of Love in a different way. Phaedrus talks about Love’s origins and how Love encourages people to be virtuous, Pausanias makes the distinction between Common Love (love of body) and Celestial Love (love of mind), Eryximachus talks about how Love promotes balance, Aristophanes

loved Eros and he was often described as a wonderful deity; a lover of beauty and everything good. However, there were some who questioned the true meaning behind the god and the concept; one of it’s most famous contemplators being the philosopher Plato. Plato disagreed

result in a failing grade for this course. Luis Martinez Luis Martinez Professor Robert Shapiro PHIL-285 Philosophy of Human Nature November 1st, 2016 Genesis VS Plato The story of Genesis, and the great philosopher Plato both depict a certain view on human nature. Genesis demonstrates that humans live on in their families. While, Plato creates this idea that we are in constant search of THE GOOD. In this paper, I will compare and contrast how these works answer three important questions; What are

Through the speakers presented in the Symposium, Plato showcases a variety of viewpoints about the essence, worth, and expression of love. Though it can be argued that Plato suggests that love is determined by how an individual chooses to interpret it, I will be arguing that he supports the idea that there is a difference between true love and false love. These differences in the forms of love can be seen through the ideas expressed in Pausanias’ speech, Eryximachus’ speech, and finally, Diotima’s

throughout all of ancient Greece due to Love’s contributions to the culture and relationships amongst individuals. However, in Plato Symposium, each guest has their own unique perspective on the role Eros plays. Among those gathered at the Symposium, speeches are offered with anything from exalting words of praise to honest words of criticisms. Pausanias and Agathon, guests at the symposium, are romantic partners, each with their own views on Love. Pausanias’ idea of Love is based off the idea that there are

Dr. Hayland from Indiana University probes into Aristophanes’ double-human speech to provide valuable insight into Plato’s ideas on human origins. He believes that it is plausible that Plato believed that humans are merely animals who replaced an irrational desire for power with logos. In order to prove his thesis, Dr. Hayland first introduces Aristophanes’ speech and thoroughly investigates what “caused us to ‘fall’ to our present state” of being humans (Hyland 194). Next, he explores the humanizing

Literature. However, different scholars have demonstrated that love has diverse meanings depending on how it has been used. Love seems to have different interpretations by different people. Plato’s Symposium has presented different approaches about people and their understanding of love. In Symposium different people who include Pausanias, Phaedrus, Eryximachus, Agathon and Aristophanes present different speeches on definite and praise of love. All the scholars have rejected any form of romantizing

Socrates, a well-known philosopher of the early Athenian era, is believed to be one of the wisest and virtuous philosophers of all time. This belief holds true in the encounters of Symposium by Plato, as depicted by Alcibiades during a symposium held by Agathon. Alcibiades, the last to speak at the symposium, derails from the topic of the night, love, and elicits much praise and gratitude for Socrates. Although Alcibiades did not witness the speech given by Socrates on love, he manages to depict

In this philosophical analysis, The Symposium provides examples of how Socrates represents the “idealized lover” in this descriptions of love provided by Diotima. Socrates embodies the dualistic forms of love in the metaphysical (the sprit) and the mortal (bodily) that form the perfect union of both aspects of life. The Symposium provides examples of love through the gods, right and wrong, and other aspects of loving, but Socrates embodies the dualism of the diamond (the spirit) and the mortal link