Erotic Wisdom

William A. Welton, Gary Alan Scott

Description

Erotic Wisdom provides a careful reading of one of Plato's most beloved dialogues, the Symposium, which explores the nature and scope of human desire (erôs). Gary Alan Scott and William A. Welton engage all of the dialogue's major themes, devoting special attention to illuminating Plato's conception of philosophy. In the Symposium, Plato situates philosophy in an intermediate (metaxu) position—between need and resource, ignorance and knowledge—showing how the very lack of what one desires can become a guiding form of contact with the objects of human desire. The authors examine the concept of intermediacy in relation both to Platonic metaphysics and to Plato's moral psychology, arguing that philosophy, for Plato, is properly understood as a kind of "being in-between," as the love of wisdom (philosophia) rather than the possession of it.
Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. Introductory Dialogue (172a–178a)

Chapter 2. Six Speeches on Love (Erôs)

The Speech of Phaedrus (178a–180c)

The Speech of Pausanias (180c–185e)

The Speech Eryximachus (185c–185e)

The Speech of Aristophanes (189a–193e)

The Speech of Agathon (194e–198a)

Interlude (198a–199c)

Socrates Questions Agathon (199c–201c)

Diotima Questions Socrates (201d–203b)

The Speech of Socrates (202b–212b)

Chapter 3. The Entrance and Speech of Alcibiades (212c–222c)

Chapter 4. Conclusion

Appendix: Intermediacy, Philosophy, and Recollection

Notes
Works Cited
Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie antique
• Ancient philosophy
• History of Europe
• Ancient history
• Ancient Greece

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 18 décembre 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791477663
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

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Erotic Wisdom

SUNY series in Ancient Greek Philosophy

Anthony Preus, editor

Erotic Wisdom

P hilosophy and I ntermediacy in P lato’s S ymposium

Gary Alan Scott & William A. Welton

S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K P R E S S

Cover image, EROS, by A. Bottini, © Electa 2007

Published by STATE UNIVERSI T Y OF NEW YORK PRESS ALBANY

© 2008 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval systemor transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

Production by Kelli W. LeRoux Marketing by Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Scott, Gary Alan, 1952–  Erotic wisdom : philosophy and intermediacy in Plato’s Symposium / Gary Alan Scott and William A. Welton.  p. cm. — (SUNY series in ancient Greek philosophy)  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-7583-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Plato. Symposium. 2. Socrates. 3. Love—Early works to 1800. I. Welton, William A. II. Title. G385.S46 2008 184—dc22 2007050729

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Acknowledgments

Introduction

Contents

CHAPTER 1 Introductory Dialogue (172a–178a)

CHAPTER 2 Six Speeches on Love (Erôs) The Speech of Phaedrus (178a–180c) The Speech of Pausanias (180c–185e) The Speech Eryximachus (185c–185e) The Speech of Aristophanes (189a–193e) The Speech of Agathon (194e–198a) Interlude (198a–199c) Socrates Questions Agathon (199c–201c) Diotima Questions Socrates (201d–203b) The Speech of Socrates (202b–212b)

CHAPTER 3 The Entrance and Speech of Alcibiades (212c–222c) The Entrance of Alcibiades

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The Speech of Alcibiades Final Dialogue

CHAPTER 4 Conclusion

C O N T E N T S

APPENDIX Intermediacy, Philosophy, and Recollection

Notes

Works Cited

Index

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Acknowledgments

We would like to take this opportunity to thank several people who have inspired and helped us in completing this book. Bill Welton wishes to thank his teacher, Charles Burlingame, for teach- ing him to read closely and to be attuned to the paradox and mystery of Eros in Plato’s works. Gary Scott would like to thank his first two philosophy teachers, Dr. Eric Gruver and Neill Cooney, who nurtured the wonder that is the origin of philosophy and who cultivated in their students a healthy skepticism. Both of us would like to express our appreciation to our teacher, mentor, and friend, Ronald M. Polansky, for showing us the depths and intricacies of the Platonic dialogues. As Aristotle famously said, it is impossible to repay those who have taught one philosophy. We owe a debt of gratitude to classicist Rik Deweerdt for reading through the penultimate version of the manuscript and for catching a num- ber of typos or outright mistakes. We also want to thank two colleagues who read earlier versions of the manuscript: Francis Cunningham and Paul Richard Blum. We are deeply indebted to Hilde Roos for her tireless efforts as editorial assistant for this project. We wish to express our appreciation to Loyola College’s Center for the Humanities for its generous underwriting of some of the costs associated with publishing this book and for buying sev- eral copies of the book for the Faculty Author publication library. Special thanks go to Michael Rinella, Kelli LeRoux, and Michael Campochiaro, from SUNY Press, and our copyeditor, Alan Hewat, and our compositor, Carey Nershi. We also benefited greatly from the comments of an anonymous referee for SUNY Press, whose criticisms led us to tighten the argument and to show more clearly where and how our interpretation differs from those of our predecessors. Finally, we wish to thank Jim Lesher for his inspirational presentation on “The Afterlife of the Symposium.” Professor Lesher brought together

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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

the myriad ways in which theSymposiumhas been interpreted, adapted, per- formed, and depicted from late antiquity to modern times in various media for various purposes. It has influenced philosophers from Plotinus to Proclus, Augustine, Ficino, and de Unamuno. It has also influenced playwrights and poets from Ben Jonson to John Donne, William D’Avenant, Thomas Mann, and Virginia Woolf. Rubens and Boticelli depicted the party at Agathon’s house, and it has inspired composers as diverse as Satie, Bernstein, and Ste- phen Trask. And it was turned into a musical entitled, “All About Love.”