Symposia: Plato, the Erotic, and Moral ValueSocrates was wise, because he knew that he did not know anything; this has long been the prevailing wisdom of the Socratic-Platonic tradition. In Plato's Middle Period—spanning dialogues such as Phaedo, Symposium, Republic, and Phaedrus—Socrates consistently claims to have knowledge in one area: the erotic. This book argues that the underlining of erotic matters —in what it refers to as Plato's Erotic Period—marks the most significant and dramatic moment in Plato's career. Plato's attention to the erotic in this period calls for a fundamental reassessment of many of the most important Platonic ideas: his complicated quarrel with poetry, his dubious doctrine of forms, his alleged hostility to the body and embodiment. In the Erotic Period, Plato's views are much richer, and infinitely more complex, than the many caricatures of his thought allow. |
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Alcibiades Anne Carson argument Aristotle Athenian Athens beauty become begins body buzzwords called Cambridge Chicago Press Christian claim classical complex contemporary Cratylus crucial culture Derek Walcott dialogue Diotima erastēs erōmenos erōs erōta erōtika especially essay essential ethics fact fascinating finally Fragility gender Greek Homosexuality Guide to Greece human sexuality idea insight insists intellectual interesting intuitions kind language live love's knowledge lover Lysias Mantineia Martha Nussbaum matter mean metaphor metaxu modern moral nature never Nietzsche Nietzsche's paradox passion Pausanias perhaps Phaedo Phaedrus philosophical Plato Plato's Erotic Period Plutarch poetic poetry poets polis political precisely Princeton problem Protagoras question reflection relationship religious Republic rhetoric Sagan Sappho seems sexual simply social society Socrates sort Soundings 72.4 Spartan speaking speech Stoic story suggests sure Symposium tell Theuth things thought tion tradition tragedy tragic translated truth University of Chicago University Press virtue word writing York