Moral transformation and the love of beauty in Plato's symposium
Journal of the History of Philosophy 48 (4):415-444 (2010)
Abstract
This paper defends an intellectualist interpretation of Diotima’s speech in Plato’s Symposium. I argue that Diotima’s purpose, in discussing the lower lovers, is to critique their erōs as aimed at a goal it can never secure, immortality, and as focused on an inferior object, themselves. By contrast, in loving the form of beauty, the philosopher gains a mortal sort of completion; in turning outside of himself, he also ceases to be preoccupied by his own incompleteness.
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2010-10-12
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2010-10-12
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210 ( #24,385 of 55,967 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
12 ( #45,023 of 55,967 )
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