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Philosophie
Plato, Symposium, Eroticising the philosopher's love of wisdom
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RésuméEssay on the following topic: In his dialogue Symposium, Plato succeeds in eroticising the philosopher's love of wisdom. Discuss.
Extract:
Etymologically, philosophy is the love of wisdom : philo means indeed “to love” (philia) and sophia, “wisdom”. This love of wisdom however is not a passionate love. For the Greeks, the term philia contains the idea of friendship and of loyalty to others. Now, the same english world, love, is used to translate two different greek words. Love is first used to translate philia. But there is another kind of love, namely, eros, whose translation is identical. This word eros was used by Greeks to refer to a passionate, intense and violent desire for something. It is used often to refer to a sexual desire, the carnal passion one feels for someone. Hence, saying that “Alcibiades loves (philia) Socrates” has a totally different meaning than saying “Alcibiades loves (eros) Socrates”. The former supposes that Alcibiades loves Socrates as a friend, objectively, because he recognized in him some dispositions, some qualities. The latterr would suggest, differently, that Alcibiades is sexually attracted to Socrates, that he longs to share his bed with him and having sexual intercourse. The meanings of love as philia and the one as eros are therefore strongly different. However, one maintains that “in his dialogue Symposium, Plato succeeds in eroticizing the philosoher's love of wisdom”. According to this view, in the Symposium, Plato mixes up the two kinds of love. He introduces into the philia of philosophy the content of eros. Albeit the two kinds of love are clearly opposed, Plato would have brought into the philia of wisdom the characteristics of eros. Philosophy would not be just a philia of wisdom but also an eros of wisdom.
Is this opinion grounded ? Is the assertion that the philia of philosophy is “eroticized” correct ? The examination in particular of Socrates' speech reveals that Plato identifies the quest for truth (so philosophy) with the lover's admiration of his beloved physical beauty (so eros): Plato in this sense effectively eroticized the philosopher's love of wisdom ...
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