The Symposium A Philosophers Guide To Love Essay

The Symposium: A Philosophers Guide to Love As much as our society has become involved in the advancement of feminism and the equality of the sexes, there is one fact that neither gender can ignore; none can survive without the other. Love and the want of a soul mate keeps each member of man and womankind in constant search of the perfect person with whom to become one. Yet if this bond is a necessity of the human race then why has the meaning, purpose and pursuit of it eluded us for so many generations. There has yet to be a one universal explanation of love and there has yet to be one who understands its powers fully. As we see from Platos Symposium, even the wisest of men in a time when the search for knowledge was seen as†¦show more content†¦In any case it seems that the main reason Phaedruss point is valid is because in one of the driving forces in a relation is fear; fear of inferiority, fear of humiliation, and fear that they may lose the other persons respect. Phaedrus soon builds on this point by stating that a true test of ones love for their mate is the value of their life. Comparisons between the fates of Achilles and Orpheus are brought up to emphasize his point. As we learn from the legend of Achilles, a man was rewarded for the value he put on his friends life. Achilles sacrificed his own life in an attempt to obtain revenge for his friend. For this act Achilles was rewarded and seen as a hero. Yet on the opposite side of the spectrum we learn of Orpheus who was punished for his selfishness in that he would sooner have his loved one die than threaten his own existence. Because of this, Orpheus was punished. These examples help Phaedrus to show how the bonds of love can make a man dare to die for another. Later on in the text we find a less dignified motive behind the sacrifice of ones self for another from the woman who teaches Socrates the meaning of love. We are once again faced with the idea of respect as one of the driving forces in love. The woman proposes that the main motive behind the sacrifice may be that it is a way to gain immortality. By dying for another they would be considered a hero.. This may have been a valid reasoning during Platos era becauseShow MoreRelatedComparing The Theaetetus And The Nature Of Love1602 Words   |  7 Pagesbetween the nature of knowledge in the Theaetetus and the nature of love in the Symposium. The concept of philosophy brings together the nature of knowledge and love. Notably, Diotima calls Love a lover of wisdom which in Greek means literally a philosopher (Benjamin Jowett, trans. Plato, Symposium and Phaedrus 27). Philia means, love and sophia means wisdom. The main topic of Plato’s Symposium is the question â€Å"what is love†. 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