The World's Best Book Summaries
What is the “Ladder of Love” in Plato’s Symposium? What are the six steps of Diotima’s Ladder? What kind of love does each step represent? Diotima’s Ladder of Love is a metaphor for different types of love that originated in Plato’s Symposium. It conceptualizes love in terms of progressive stages or steps: The higher the steps, the higher and the more sophisticated one’s love is. Keep reading to learn about Diotima’s Ladder of Love.
What is human nature in philosophy? Are humans benevolent or evil by their nature? In philosophy, human nature has been debated extensively. Some philosophers argue that humans are naturally deceitful and cruel, seemingly with a lot of evidence to back us up: Throughout history, groups of humans have gone to war, committed genocide, and owned slaves. But despite our history of evil, humans are fundamentally good. Here’s why the basic nature of humankind is inherently good, according to historian Rutger Bregman.
Why is it important to challenge your beliefs? How do you know whether your beliefs and opinions about the world are true? What are the consequences of living with blind beliefs? Challenging your beliefs is an important step in self-growth. The more you question the validity of your thoughts and beliefs, the less likely you are to accept other people’s opinions as your own. The following questions will help you question your beliefs to see whether they align with who you really are.
What does Diotima say about love in Plato’s Symposium? How does her concept of love relate to beauty? In Plato’s Symposium, Diotima’s speech centers on the human experience of love rather than its purpose or benefits. She concludes that the main object of love is not beauty. Rather, it’s goodness. However, she argues that beauty is integral to a good life and introduces the concept of the “ascent”—a process of learning to appreciate beauty in all its forms. In this article, we’ll explore Diotima’s views on love by explaining what humans love, why humans love, and how humans should love.
What was the Stanford Prison Experiment? What do the results of the experiment tell us about human nature? In 1971, a team of psychologists led by Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo turned the basement of the Stanford psychology department into a “jail.” Zimbardo recruited 24 male college students, half of whom would play the role of guards and the other half the role of prisoners. After a few days, the guards began to treat the prisoners with brutality—they subjected them to strip searches, emotionally and verbally tormented them, and even physically abused them. Here’s why we shouldn’t make sweeping conclusions about
What makes a good presentation? What are some things you should keep in mind when delivering a business presentation? An effective presentation is one that distills your message clearly and concisely, leaving no room for interpretation in your audience’s mind. To that end, you must define one main idea your want to convey and flesh out your talking points around it. Here are a few tips on how to prepare and deliver an effective presentation that gets your message across.
Do you have a feeling you’re pursuing the wrong goals? Why would you make decisions and choose goals that waste your energy and make you unhappy? Many people chase after the wrong goals—pursuing things for the sake of getting social approval. While impressing others may feel good in the short term, it will eventually make you feel miserable and unfulfilled. Here’s why chasing after superficial goals is the worst kind of self-sabotage.
What is love? How does love connect to philosophy? How can it lead to human happiness? The ancient Greek philosopher Plato addresses these questions and more in his Symposium, a work which claims that passionate desire, rather than cold and detached analysis, drives philosophy. Symposium also provides insight into Plato’s views on happiness, education, and reproduction. Below is a brief overview of Plato’s Symposium on love.
If humans are cooperative by nature, why do we wage wars with each other? Does our species owe its survival to competition or to cooperation? According to Rutger Bregman, the author of Humankind, human cooperation is the reason our species survived. Based on archaeological evidence, he concludes that early humans were compassionate and cooperative. He argues that, contrary to popular belief, they didn’t engage in war with each other. Here’s why humans are cooperative—rather than competitive—by nature, according to Bregman.
What is the number one cause of unhappiness? How does trying to make other people happy eat away at your own happiness? One of the most common pitfalls that prevent people from being happy is, paradoxically enough, trying too hard to make others happy. Relying on positive feedback to feel happy creates a breeding ground for unwanted experiences and negative feelings. This is because seeking validation compels you to engage in two habits that disconnect you from your true needs: suppressing your feelings and pursuing the wrong goals. Let’s explore how these two inauthentic habits eat away at your happiness.