one of the most interesting ideas in
philosophy lies in the little
masterpiece called the symposium written
by the philosopher Plato in ancient
Greece in 385 BC the symposium tells the
story of a dinner party that unfolded in
Athens at the home of a distinguished
playwright called Agathon
many interesting characters gathered to
share food and drink and talk about
important things they’re lying on
couches sharing excellent roasted food
and vegetables and there’s good wine too
at the start of the dinner party the
host announces that he wants each of his
guests to make a speech on what they
think love or arrows as they called it
is Plato reserves the best and most
interesting theory for his hero Socrates
who advances an idea that becomes known
as the door of love after everyone has
spoken and some are quite drunk –
Socrates tells us that most of us start
to learn about love in a very immediate
and physical way by being powerfully
attracted to one particular person’s
face and body this is what we now call
romantic sexual love however socrates is
keen not to say that this is what love
is or aims at in its essence this kind
of bodily infatuation is just the
starting point the first step in his
famous ladder of love for Socrates the
love of one beautiful person isn’t and
should never be the whole story it’s an
invitation to step on a ladder that if
we follow up when some with
thoughtfulness and dignity will lead us
to an appreciation of bigger things like
wisdom truth morality and goodness
what’s interesting is that Plato doesn’t
want to censor our interest in lust or
sex he doesn’t think it evil or
degenerate he accepts it but sees as a
starting point
however Plato doesn’t want us to stay
stuck on that run he invites us on a
journey so we start with the love of one
specific beautiful person and then we
move on past that one-off case to a love
of the beauty of people in general and
then we move up yet another run from a
physical to an intellectual beauty
the kind of beauty you might find in a
work philosophy or the laws of a city
when you’ve become skilled at perceiving
this sort of beauty you’re abled for
example to appreciate the appeal of a
beautiful mind even in an ugly body
eventually the true student of love is
able to love what Plato calls the former
beauty itself which is synonymous with
wisdom and goodness this all helps to
explain why sometimes the sight of
beautiful person might move us for Plato
this is because we ensure in them
something beyond their appearance we
sense that there’s a ladder that we’ve
been invited to step on that will
eventually lead us to wisdom
Plato’s argument does two things it
crosses the idea that an interest in
beauty is shallow it’s the starting
point to something deep also it frees us
to believe that beauty exists beyond one
person it exists in unexpected places
the beauty of the mind is linked but
superior to that of the body
you might start lusting after a
beautiful body but the argument goes the
idea is that you may end up with a love of philosophy and truth
philosophy lies in the little
masterpiece called the symposium written
by the philosopher Plato in ancient
Greece in 385 BC the symposium tells the
story of a dinner party that unfolded in
Athens at the home of a distinguished
playwright called Agathon
many interesting characters gathered to
share food and drink and talk about
important things they’re lying on
couches sharing excellent roasted food
and vegetables and there’s good wine too
at the start of the dinner party the
host announces that he wants each of his
guests to make a speech on what they
think love or arrows as they called it
is Plato reserves the best and most
interesting theory for his hero Socrates
who advances an idea that becomes known
as the door of love after everyone has
spoken and some are quite drunk –
Socrates tells us that most of us start
to learn about love in a very immediate
and physical way by being powerfully
attracted to one particular person’s
face and body this is what we now call
romantic sexual love however socrates is
keen not to say that this is what love
is or aims at in its essence this kind
of bodily infatuation is just the
starting point the first step in his
famous ladder of love for Socrates the
love of one beautiful person isn’t and
should never be the whole story it’s an
invitation to step on a ladder that if
we follow up when some with
thoughtfulness and dignity will lead us
to an appreciation of bigger things like
wisdom truth morality and goodness
what’s interesting is that Plato doesn’t
want to censor our interest in lust or
sex he doesn’t think it evil or
degenerate he accepts it but sees as a
starting point
however Plato doesn’t want us to stay
stuck on that run he invites us on a
journey so we start with the love of one
specific beautiful person and then we
move on past that one-off case to a love
of the beauty of people in general and
then we move up yet another run from a
physical to an intellectual beauty
the kind of beauty you might find in a
work philosophy or the laws of a city
when you’ve become skilled at perceiving
this sort of beauty you’re abled for
example to appreciate the appeal of a
beautiful mind even in an ugly body
eventually the true student of love is
able to love what Plato calls the former
beauty itself which is synonymous with
wisdom and goodness this all helps to
explain why sometimes the sight of
beautiful person might move us for Plato
this is because we ensure in them
something beyond their appearance we
sense that there’s a ladder that we’ve
been invited to step on that will
eventually lead us to wisdom
Plato’s argument does two things it
crosses the idea that an interest in
beauty is shallow it’s the starting
point to something deep also it frees us
to believe that beauty exists beyond one
person it exists in unexpected places
the beauty of the mind is linked but
superior to that of the body
you might start lusting after a
beautiful body but the argument goes the
idea is that you may end up with a love of philosophy and truth
Please follow and like us: