Throughout history humans have been on a search for the answer to one question, what is love? This question can being answered in many ways because there are many situations where love reigns. In Plato’s The Symposium a woman named Diotima, who is a philosopher educates Socrates about the ways of love and she answers this question in a way that challenged the perception of love that was conceived all throughout history. Love is not an object but a lover in search for beauty. In her speech she uses ideas and metaphors that forces Socrates to asks many questions and think unconventionally. In Diotima’s speech she addresses how the soul’s ascent to beauty is through love and how love is the driving force behind its search for wisdom. Once one
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Happiness is the goal for all human because it is immortal. Diotima makes it clear that it is possible to achieve this immortality but even though everyone has the ability to reach this point not everyone can. It is only through love that one can find beauty. Diotima tells socrates “that it's only in that kind of life, when someone sees beauty with the part that can see it, that he’ll be able to give birth not just to images of virtue, but to true virtue. Its someone who's given birth to true virtue and brought it up who has the chance of becoming loved by the gods, and immortal- if any human being can be immortal” (sym 212a). Diotima is stating that if one is able to reach the ultimate goal of beauty that they will have achieved wisdom that is left to guide people forever and achieved satisfaction from the gods.
As I was reading the Symposium I was able to understand Diotima speech by connecting Socrates and Diotima conversation to the soul’s ascent to beauty through love. Socrates is the soul and Diotima is love. Socrates went on a journey seeking wisdom on the topic of love and Diotima is the “lover of beauty” that Socrates needed to understand what love really was. By the end of Diotima’s speech Socrates achieved the wisdom he was seeking. He was able to leave behind his wisdom for the future generations and now he is essentially
Happiness is the goal for all human because it is immortal. Diotima makes it clear that it is possible to achieve this immortality but even though everyone has the ability to reach this point not everyone can. It is only through love that one can find beauty. Diotima tells socrates “that it's only in that kind of life, when someone sees beauty with the part that can see it, that he’ll be able to give birth not just to images of virtue, but to true virtue. Its someone who's given birth to true virtue and brought it up who has the chance of becoming loved by the gods, and immortal- if any human being can be immortal” (sym 212a). Diotima is stating that if one is able to reach the ultimate goal of beauty that they will have achieved wisdom that is left to guide people forever and achieved satisfaction from the gods.
As I was reading the Symposium I was able to understand Diotima speech by connecting Socrates and Diotima conversation to the soul’s ascent to beauty through love. Socrates is the soul and Diotima is love. Socrates went on a journey seeking wisdom on the topic of love and Diotima is the “lover of beauty” that Socrates needed to understand what love really was. By the end of Diotima’s speech Socrates achieved the wisdom he was seeking. He was able to leave behind his wisdom for the future generations and now he is essentially