Comparing The Body And Soul In Plato's Symposium: Ladder Of Love

Unlike the body, the soul is immortal. It is a form, or perhaps an idea that dictates the ideals of beauty. Unlike the soul, the body inevitably changes through body modifications, stress, health-related situations, and time. Soul, beauty, love, and the body are all intertwined together, even if the ideas contradict each other, like the ideas of the soul and the body. While one is immortal, the other is mortal. These relationships between the soul and the body, and love and beauty are well depicted in Plato’s Symposium: “Ladder of Love”, as Plato alludes to the steps in obtaining the true beauty. Plato refers to both physical and metaphysical characteristics to claim his perception of the relationship to Love and beauty and body and soul. In his Symposium: “Ladder of Love,” Plato conveys his perceptions through Diotima as she discreetly shares the steps to properly acquire the true perception of the Form …show more content…
Whether it means to respect all religions or appreciate the different traditions of a culture, one must learn to love different laws, institutions, and practices. Each culture is unique in that each practices different rituals, ideas, and beliefs, but in order to grow as a human, one must find the beauty within all of them. Approaching the final rungs, Plato suggests that, after laws, institutions and practices, the critical element to seek the relationship between the body to love and beauty is knowledge (1). In order to understand beyond the world and the cosmos, knowledge is key. Knowledge is the key to success. Knowledge is the key to learning. Knowledge is the key to growing. And ultimately, knowledge is the key to loving; loving the body and the beauty of all that is around us. Having knowledge of the body, the soul, the mind, the laws, practices, and institutions, the transcendental beauty, itself, is