But what remains are Plato’s words on the page, recording those other words Socrates said, preserving that wit and that wisdom across the aeons for us to admire, to enjoy, and to love.įor Plato, this is the ultimate, the highest form of love, the only love that is truly eternal. Socrates, who was loved by many for his wit and his wisdom, has been dead equally long. In his work, Symposium, Plato asserts that the love of wisdom is the greatest. He said that love is a step-by-step process that starts with the admiration of physical beauty and then evolves into the admiration of spiritual beauty. Plato the man has been dead for two and a half thousand years. Plato stated that love is the motivating force that pushes a person to think deeply about beauty. These things will not go away, they will stay around humans, to be loved and admired, forever. And when we engage erotically with these things, we produce eternal offspring: another melody, a new formula, a better argument. So how can we satisfy that? By uniting with these things that are not ephemeral, things that are eternal, things that won’t die: the abstract beauty of a formula describing a seashell. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young. But our desire to be united with beauty is still there, as long as we live. True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. Sunsets end, melodies fade into silence, seashells break. Love is the desire for the eternal possession of the good.īut nothing is forever. And then we notice that we’re also attracted to other things that are beautiful: a sunset, a haunting melody, the spiral form of a seashell, perhaps even a mathematical formula, or the clever way a philosophical argument works. And so our understanding of beauty grows wider, to include these things. And we notice that there are other kinds of beauty: when the beauty of the body fades with age, the beauty of the mind becomes more prominent. We’re attracted to every beautiful body, and thus to the beauty itself that is common in them. But if we follow our instincts for a while, we’ll notice that it’s not one particular body we’re attracted to. We love to look at a beautiful face, a perfect body. Professor of Philosophy at MIT, often quotes Santayanas epigram about Platonic love: all beauties attract by. We are striving for perfection, says Plato. PHAEDRUS: LOVE is the oldest of all gods, the benefactor of humankind, the inspiration of honor (a man would rather die than appear as a coward in the eyes of. Possession? What is a good? And why should it be eternal? “Love is the desire for the eternal possession of the good.” But, then again.perhaps I have the strength after all.In the Symposion, perhaps the most famous of the ancient Greek philosophical texts on love, Plato gives us a definition of what love is: It's conceivable, you miserable, vomitous mass, that I'm only lying here because I lack the strength to stand. Westley: It's possible, Pig I might be bluffing. Prince Humperdinck: I think you're bluffing. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God! What is that thing?" will echo in your perfect ears. On the one hand, there is the verb philein and its cognates ( philia is the noun, philos the adjective)a word we use all the time when we talk about philanthropy, philosophy, philharmonic, and the like. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. This article focuses on the idea that Plato weaves around the emotion of love. Westley: Wrong! Your ears you keep, and I'll tell you why. Prince Humperdinck: And then my ears, I understand. ( Plato, 380BC) The philosopher is in love with truth, that is, not with the changing world of sensation, which is the object of opinion, but with the unchanging reality which is the object of knowledge. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right. For I assume that by knowing the truth you mean knowing things as they really are. A mistake I don't mean to duplicate tonight. Prince Humperdinck: And then my tongue, I suppose. To the pain means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Prince Humperdinck: That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me. Westley: I'll explain, and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog-faced buffoon. Its the only reason to do anything.' Ray Bradbury. Prince Humperdinck: I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase. 'Love is a smoke and is made with the fume of sighs.' William Shakespeare, 'Romeo and Juliet'. Prince Humperdinck: First things first, to the death.
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