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The 2 Loves of Plato's Symposium (Anna Karenina Supplementary Reading) (Patreon)

Published:
2021-02-12 09:55:44
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

I’ve put together a video for you on Plato/Socrates’ theory of love, but if you would like to explore this topic more, the book is very short and provides some enriching areas to explore, especially in relation to the characters of Anna Karenina. 

I recommend the Christopher John Gill translation available in Penguin paperback. 

And here is my personal breakdown/crib notes of the different types of love along with corresponding page number in that edition:

1. Phaedrus(p.10) - a good lover, a good boyfriend, the greatest thing for a young man = life guidance, feeling shame around vice (like cowardice), feeling of dying for someone

2. Pausanias(p.12) - 2 kinds of love: Uraninan/Heavenly (homosexual) + Pandemic/Common Aphrodite - only Heavenly Love, which motivates us to act rightly, should be praised; - Common = loves the body/not constant/inferior; - Heavenly = loves goodness of character and virtues/unities with something constant/tested by time

3. Eryximachus(p.18) - love is in animals, plants, medicine, music, athletics, agriculture, astronomy, anything that creates harmony, and you can ‘implant love’

4. Aristophanes(p.24) - love draws two halves into a whole and heals the ‘wound in human nature’, love = ‘desire and pursuit of wholeness’

5. Agathon(p.30) - love is just, moderate, graceful, courageous, and wise

6. Socrates/Diotima(p.36-43) - ‘love is the desire to have the good forever’

- good (kalos) + beautiful (agathos) are conflated

- love is a spirit between mortal and immortal, a great spirit between god and human, and also a doing verb (lover vs loved object)

- Love has the function of happiness/eudaimonia (objective achievement, prosperity, family well-being)

- ‘Love’s function is giving birth in beauty both in body and mind’ - how mortal creatures achieve immortality

What do YOU think love is?

Files

Previews only

The 2 Loves of Plato's Symposium

Comments

CIN27

I read this as part of the "homework" for Anna Karenina and enjoyed it. First I thought it was fascinating that humans still struggle with dichotomies and all-or-nothing thinking. (the revelation that Love is not a God and also not mortal, and so is something in between). The thing that stuck with me was the discussion of "good opinion" (where a person is right without a logical reason). "Good opinion" falls between ignorance and being right through reasoning. To me this was the centerpiece of the book. Intuition is powerful. The idea of "good opinion" reminded me of the grading system in "the Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance" where the English teacher demonstrated that the level of how good writing was could be sensed without the need for rubrics and traditional grades. and useful but it can lead to lazy thinking or no thinking at all. For example, being told to "have faith" when questioning religion. I really enjoyed reading and thinking about this book. Thank you for recommending it.

Laura Hewitson

I need to pick up a copy of the Symposium for myself (I attempted the Gutenberg edition, but it has no quotation marks and I found it to be poorly formatted and therefore difficult to read), but based on your summary here, my personal belief is that many of these definitions can be synonymously true. I agree with Eryximachus, Agathon, and Socrates/Diotima - to me, love is inherent in all that is good and beautiful in the world (nature, art, other people, scientific advancements that promote social good, even socialist-leaning political & government sectors, such as public health care or public education). I'm a Christian who believes in divine inspiration & creation, so to me, God's love is infused in everything. I also think we can fill one another (and ourselves) with love - it can be 'poured into' us. To be loving as a verb is to be just, moderate, graceful, courageous, and wise, as Agathon points out. When I love someone, to me it means I desire their highest good and will do everything in my power to help them achieve that good for as long as I am in their life. I hope that, in turn, those who love me will do the same for me. Perhaps looking at many of these perspectives in unison gives us the most complete picture of love?