Socrates View Of Love Essays - 1049 Words

A Different View of Love We have heard definitions of love through our lives that have been passed on for decades. Some of us have felt love, and some of us have been in love. But no one ever seems to question what love is, as if it is something that just plainly is. People tend to just go with it, and think that what they are feeling is really complete and substantial love. In Plato’s The Symposium, the reader is confronted with some very different views of love as brought to us by Agathon, Phaedrus and Socrates, to name a few. Each man at the dinner party has a different point of view on the issue of love. Some of the men are old lovers, and some are just friends, and each puts in his thoughts of love as the evening wears on.†¦show more content†¦What we don’t think of when we hear a statement like that is that in the future we may not experience what we did in the past. Having something, and loving it makes us feel like it will always be there for us and that we will have it at all times. Socrates believes that even if you have all you want at the present time, that in the future you will want it as well. He says this to Agathon, â€Å"You already have riches and health and strength in your possession, my man; what you want is to posses these things in time to come, since in the present, whether you want to or not, you have them.† (42). Socrates is seeming to disprove the age old philosophy of, we want what we cannot have because of that very reason we canno t have it. And once it is attainable it does not look so golden anymore. Socrates says that once we have something good we will always want it because it is beautiful. And if it is beautiful and good then it must be love, because all things that possess those two qualities have got to be love. This is where I see the problems in Socrates’ arguments. His explanations of love are in themselves correct and reasonable, but they get unclear as he goes on. By saying that a man who is strong will still want to be strong in his later life, and someone who is rich will still want to be rich he is correct because everyone wants the good things in life. What he does not explain in his argument is whyShow MoreRelatedSocrates s View Of Love2063 Words   |  9 PagesIn The Symposium, Love is described to be a goddess by the men who are praising her powers in several eulogies. However, Socrates proves that their claims are incorrect evaluations during his speech. Socrates chooses to analyze and discuss the truth of love through rhetoric rather than submit to the ‘illusionary’ art of poetry that the other men used. Although the context of Love is set up in the mythological sense, Socrates’ speech transcends the topic from merely describing the goddess’ p owersRead MoreSocrates And The Early Athenian Era845 Words   |  4 PagesSocrates, 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 depictRead MoreSocrates and Love Essay912 Words   |  4 PagesIn the Symposium, written by Plato, Socrates and others engage in a dialogue in the home of Agathon on love. Instead of singing the honours (94) of love like the other participants, Socrates uses a retelling of a discussion that he had with a woman named Diotima to tell the audience of what he perceives to be the truth of love. He first speaks to Agathon in order to be on the same wavelength with him. Socrates asks Agathon a series of questions - which leads to Agathon being thoroughlyRead MoreSocrates Apology Analysis1149 Words   |  5 Pages In her analysis of Socrates’s frame of work, Roslyn Weiss defends Socrates to seeker of knowledge. Weiss argues that Socrates should be viewed as a skeptical inquirer because of his pursuit to what is x? As Weiss puts it, Socrates is aware of his own ignorance and knows that one cannot know what things are by simply using definitions. She emphasized for one to a teacher, one must be an expert. From this point of view, it can be inferred that to teach someone you must have all the background andRead MorePlato s Symposium : The Nature Of Love1320 Words   |  6 PagesPlato’s Symposium explores the nature of love through several different telling’s of what love is by philosophers of the time. The speeches of Socrates, Alcibiades, and Aristophanes are of main focus, as their similarities and differences help the reader to decide the truth of the nature of love. Throughout the Symposium, the accounts of love vary from speaker to speaker. The speech given by Socrates differentiates from the viewpoints of Alcibiades and Aristophanes, as well as all of the other speechesRead MoreEuthyphro s Dilemma Of Plato s Euthyphro968 Words   |  4 PagesEuthyphro, Socrates discusses with Euthyphro about what the â€Å"piety† is. The conversation leads to what most modern philosophers now define as Euthyphro’s dilemma. It is stated that† Is something pious because the gods love it or the gods love it because it is pious?† This dilemma is also known as the â€Å"Divine Command Theory†, which has puzzled many Christian philosophers throughout the years. Socrates’ account seems to disagree with Euthyphro’s. This paper will argue against the dilemma in Socrates’ accountRead MoreEssay Platos Symposium1171 Words   |  5 Pagesof being/essence). This concept is key to the context of The Symposium: Love. It is important to note that as the speeches evolve throughout this particular work they parallel this concept. Plato has, in this writers opinion, reinforced his theory through the speakers by outlining the journey from the world of becoming (Phaedrus speech) to the world of being (Diotimas speech). This being so, Diotima and Socrates (the forms) will be the key focus for which all previous speakers will ascendRead MorePlato s The Trial And Death Of Socrates Essay1671 Words   |  7 PagesTrial and Death of Socrates presents the reader with complex competing conceptions of what should be considered â€Å"the good life†. According to Socrates, â€Å"the most important thing is not life, but the good life† (Crito, 48b). The majority, who live a non-philosophical life, believes the goods of life include wealth, reputation, and honor: all things that can easily be taken away or destroyed. On the other hand, Socrates lives a philosophical life filled with self-sufficiency. He views wisdom, truth, andRead MoreLove and Beauty1208 Words   |  5 PagesLove is neither wise nor beautiful, but the desire or pursuit of wisdom and beauty. Love is expressed via propagation and reproduction, as in the exchange and development of ideas. Socrates in the Symposium best expresses this belief. Socrates view of Love and Beauty was that one is the pur suit of the other, and that other is the greatest of all knowledge. Love is a driving force, a compulsion forward to a goal. Much as a moth is drawn to light, for its heat, people are lured to Beauty by LoveRead MoreThe Philosophy Of Human Nature1140 Words   |  5 Pagesof the Will The will, in its simplest form, is the ability for one to control one’s own actions. Through the will, the morality of the action is entirely decided by the doer. Augustine professes the will simply permits the doer to do evil. In Socrates’ assertion, free will is contingent on self-control because without it, one can find oneself enslaved to a material thing or desire. Based on reading and prior knowledge, it can be deduced that the only thing that can truly keep one from vice is