Plato's Symposium -- Brief Introduction

[@edgewaterz]

Thank you so much for these videos!

[@platosworld]

You're welcome!

[@skylarjon3464]

Damn, Socrates really went all out for this one! Glad the guy managed to clean himself up before hanging with the bros

[@thattimestampguy]

Beauty - Reflecting Love 0:46 “Drinking Party” 0:57 6 Speeches on Love _Love is Subordinate_ Young Man Love - Profitable To Beloveds Old Man Love - Serving Virtue Dr Love - Bringer of Health 1:24 _Love is praise-worthy in itself_ Poet Aristophanes Love - Yearning to Reclaim Whole Poet Aganon Love - Most Beautiful and Best, Just Moderate Courageous, Wise 2:22 Diotema’s Love - seeks to give Birth from poverty 2:38 Love leads the lover up the steps of Beauty contemplation, gazing on eternal idea 3:14 DRUNK Alcibiades 😵 Sicily’s Defeat of Athens 4:29 Drunken Praise of Socrates Moving humdrumness 5:46 (Does love mean all these things?) 6:26 Eros, The God of Love Love is something relational, tieing us together

[@platosworld]

Thanks, Time Stamp Guy!

[@ko-yuchen4671]

Deep insight into the dialogue. Many thanks

[@SM7LArchitecture]

Brilliant! thank you very much

[@platosworld]

You're welcome!

[@aslan8463]

🎄✨💖THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GOOD JOB

[@platosworld]

You're welcome!

[@fezekazulu8418]

Thank you! This is so helpful.

[@zeeshanmohmand8400]

But How Plato wrote this dialogue because he did not appear there in the symposium.please I'm comfused

[@platosworld]

Many of Socrates' dialogues took place before Plato was even born. In the case of the Symposium, look at the beginning. There we learn that the story is told by a certain Apollodorus--a rather pompous fellow--who was not there but heard it from Aristodemus, who was a little guy who hung around Socrates and who was present. It's a very complicated chain of transmission.

[@zeeshanmohmand8400]

@@platosworld wow wow...Thank You so much Sir g.....Now i got it❤❤ Thank You so much... And the Platonic love concept is actualy symposium.I mean that there were 7 Notable men who deliverd speeches on Eros so, that speeches actualy the concept of platonic love.?

[@bortolilucia]

At the beginning of the dialogue, Plato talks about how he heard of the event from a third party who had heard about it from someone present at the time, Apollodorus, an unreliable individual. Why did Plato develop such an important philosophical dialogue based on "hear-say," which sounded like gossiping? Definitely, not a very reliable source for a strong argument. Plato wanted to give his readers the impression that he was not related to or involved with the event and the speeches, and therefore, he was not responsible for the ideas proposed in them. The dialogue is not just about beauty and love; it is about politics and class distinction. Through it, Plato indirectly declares that only a few people can perceive true beauty and achieve the best form of love--the ones who are refined and educated, the young men of the aristocracy. When the aristocracy is challenged by the non-aristocratic wealthy about power and privileges, Plato argues to protect its interests. Only those born into privilege and have access to education have the ability to understand and resolve the state's problems. The others, belonging to the lower classes, do not have the same intellectual and educational qualifications. It is not by mistake that Socrates emphasizes the "right" method of learning and developing one's intellectual and professional abilities. It all depends on your birth status and access to the "right" mentors/teachers (the exclusive mentoring program in the aristocratic families was an established practice). Plato's argument could not go well with his political opponents; therefore, hehe adopted this ambiguous approach to the subject; he inserts a series of disclaimers throughout the narrative not to contradict himself but to protect himself from unwanted criticism, and more subtly, to convince the reader of the validity of his arguments (the political struggle was fierce at the time, and one could easily lose his wealth or even his head--see Euripides who was exiled or Socrates who lost his life). The source of the dialogue is one of these disclaimers; another is Aristophanes' creationist speech that he gives after waking up from a drunken stupor: do you believe the words of a drunk? But the speech is so alluring! Another is Socrates' speech in which he first declares that he knows nothing on the subject, but what he knows is from a woman. ???? The Greeks did not have a great opinion of women; how could a woman have taught Socrates, the greatest mind of all, anything? These ambiguities are intentional but hidden in the narrative. The readers are so invested in the core content of the arguments, about beauty and love, that they do not pause and reflect on them. The Symposium is truly a masterpiece in political deception!

[@arihaqi1053]

@@bortolilucia Interesting and well-written! Just two quick questions. Who first wrote about the claim that there must've been a hidden political message arguing for aristocratic exclusivity in scholarship & what is the relationship between the subject of 'Love' and his hidden political message? Thanks.

[@isaacronathan1693]

thank you!!!